I was looking at the Daves Garden entry for Maiden Grass. It grows in a wide range of zones. I’m in zone 7.
It doesn’t set seed. Thats good. No mention whether the leaves are razor sharp.
Does sound a lot better than Pampas grass.
That is pampas grass.
I planted one in the front yard of this house I used to rent. Boy, was that a bad idea. It sort of took over the whole yard and really wrecked the flow of the landscaping I had going: way too large for the small space it was in.
And I really paid for my mistake because then I bought the house directly across the street, so every time I look out my front window, my biggest landscaping mistake looks right back at me.
face palm.
They’re not. I’ve worked with them for many, many years and it’s possible I may have gotten a paper cut or two but I don’t recall any.
Maiden grass sounds like a good choice. thanks MacCat
You’re very welcome.
Maiden Grass is a common name used for most of the species I put in parentheses above. To be sure you get what you want, select a cultivar to match the characteristics you want. The old standby is M. sinensis ‘Gracillimus’. By me, the foliage gets to be a good six feet tall by the same width and wider, especially after a few years. Another nice one, very slightly smaller is ‘Morning Light’ with a silvery foliage. There are cultivars that get even larger, ‘Cosmopolitan’ a very attractive example with variegated foliage and beautiful flower spikes. With the aforementioned ‘Yaku Jima’ those have been the best performers for me. There is a popular variety called ‘Variegatus’ that seems to always flop open.
I don’t know if they’ll behave the same in your zone as mine. After a few years, we will divide them up to keep them fresh and give away some. If they’re very large, we’ll cut out the center and replace with a nice big division or two which quickly grow to full size.
The church by me put “variegatus” on a hill so when it is in full flop, it looks almost like wavy green hair. The effect is quite pretty.
That’s what I came in to say. Liriope for sure. Whilst the flower of the liriope is normally purple, there is a white variety too and your photo is identical to those elsewhere on the web.