Add Some Grass
Other-worldly ‘Sky Rocket’
As an ornamental, grass provides texture, color, and height but with Halloween approaching let’s delve into its unspoken other dimension: fright. Admit it—when you walk by a clump of tall grass you sometimes imagine a set of eyes peering out at you. Swaying, swooshing, and arching ominously grass adds a shroud of mysteriousness to a design, particularly at this time of year.
Juncus spiralis screams Halloween
Juncus spiralis has secured a spot in jack-o-lantern wig-dom with its curling stems that point in every direction. If you’re looking for a unique offbeat look, this grass screams Halloween. ‘Blue Arrows’ appears to be reacting to that scream with a straight up shock top of zombie bluish-green. Creepy.
Gracefully edging a walkway by day, far out ‘Sky Rocket’ transforms at dusk into an army of bristly, hairy worms. They rise up out of the phosphorescent foliage on lumbering stems and dangle over the shoulders of innocent passersby. Chilling—but what else would we expect from a plant whose foliage is made up of blades?
Fear not—Carex ‘Aurea’, with its brightening yellow effect is the noble glow-stick of the group, lighting a path through the lingering shadows and candy wrappers of the ghostly All Hallows Eve.
Juncus spiralis and ‘Blue Arrows’ come in the 4.5-inch pot. Carex ‘Aurea’ and Pennisetum ‘Sky Rocket’ are available in the 1 gallon size.