Tom Bodnar
People Places Plants
Autumn 2002

They say gardeners across the Atlantic are envious of our autumns here in New England. Cooler temperatures return, rainfall is usually more frequent and the colors change - making it an ideal time to be in the garden. Sometimes you need to step back and view the garden in a different light to appreciate what you have at hand. Ornamental grasses are one more element that add beauty to the landscape.

This time of year, ornamental grasses can make autumn an especially great time to be New England gardeners. In the past few years, grasses have played a much larger role in back yards and public plantings. They add texture, movement, a vertical accent and color to the border at a time when choices in plants becomes more selective.
With our long winters, grasses are great for extending interest in the garden As the light changes and the air takes on that special feeling of crisp beginnings and year end harvests. Its hard to beat the sight of light as it shines through a clump of Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegatus' or the air as it rustles through an upright stand of switch grass like Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal'.

I challenge my retail customers is to try plants that are taller and larger than you might be used to growing. Many grasses tend to be big, they have a presence that shouts out for you to take notice - they are dramatic. When other plants have passed by in the garden, grasses still have a presence that shouts out for attention.
Try mixing grasses with the large mauve pink heads of Eupatorium fistulosum 'Gateway' atop towering stems. Stands of 6' Rudbeckia nitida 'Herbstonne' sway in a breeze but do not falter from mid July to mid September. The sunny faces of Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' and late blooming New England Asters, Aster novae-angliae, beg for companion plantings with the character of ornamental grasses. Be adventurous, be experimental -be bold! Two questions always seem to be of most concern to gardeners. How do I combine plants successfully in the garden and which ones are the best value for long bloom and interest? It's no different with ornamental grasses. How do you take a 3 gal. grass and integrate it into the landscape to show it off to its best advantage? Use ornamental grasses (and all seasonal plants) somewhere in the home landscape where you can enjoy them according to bloom time & your property use. Ornamental grasses want to be planted along side a pool, a patio for summer entertainment or a reflective sitting area. They can be an accent and anchor in a foundation planting or the corner of a bed. Grasses provide screening or whimsical fun for a playground area. They look great as part of a winter garden viewed from a favorite window, mixed with conifers or as an exclamation point at the property's entrance. And most importantly, ornamental grasses look great either in mass or in combination with perennials and flowering shrubs.
Since grasses break dormancy late, they don't mix well with early spring plantings. But from mid-June onward they provide an excellent backdrop for perennials to shine against. Try planting beefy M. s. 'Adagio' behind shrub roses like 'Carefree Delight', 'Nearly Wild' and the midsize Town & Country roses. Showy Pennisetums look great with an Achillea like 'Red Velvet' or 'Schwellenberg'. The spiky Liatris 'Kobold' and stiff stemmed Leucanthemum 'Becky' are wonderful with an upright Sorghastrum or the early seed heads of Calamagrostis a. 'Karl Forester'. Echinops and any of the Hemerocallis can be featured in front of the vibrant red highlights of P. v. 'Shenadoah'. You'll be pleased how your perennials and shrubs perform with a backdrop of grasses. The possibilities are as varied as the plants available and the gardener's creativity. Remember to repeat your favorite plant selections throughout the property. It will tie borders together and unify your gardens. Think of planting P. alopecuroides 'Moudry' around the pool, mixed with spireas in a foundation and fronting a butterfly garden. Limit the number of different plants you use in a planting scheme. Follow the advice of "less is more" and subtract distracting elements as opposed to adding plants for the sake of adding. Plantsman Ken Twombly likes to say, one of the easiest ways to create interest for the eye is to vary the texture of the plantings. Plant a broadleaf evergreen next to a needled evergreen, next to a grass, next to a deciduous shrub and so forth. Consider ornamental grasses as adding a unique and softening texture to the garden.
From late summer to autumn start to think beyond the usual fall mums for companion plantings. Utilize the vibrant background colors provided by the changing leaves on maples, oaks, dogwoods and sweetgums. Scour nurseries for varied Hydrangeas from lacecaps to grandifloras to match the fancy seed pods of P. alopecuroides. Pull in the valuable blue of Caryopteris x 'First Choice' to echo the color of Schizachyrium scoparium-as well as the blues of lower growing fescues and blue oat grasses. If you live in Zone 5, you can match the 6 to 8 foot majestic nature of M. s. 'Sarabande' or 'Gracillimus' with an equally impressive Buddleia 'Black Knight' or 'Lochinch'. Plant the deep purple-maroons of viburnums with the smoky reds of Miscanthus s. var. purpurescens and then add your perennials for a spark of interest.
The show can continue with white spikes of Veronicastrum moving in symphony with the switchgrasses. A large block of Russian Sage, Perovskia atriplicifolia, dances in front of taller grasses such as M. s. 'Autumn Light'. Echinacea and Monardas will draw in the butterflies as Boltonia asteroides adds a tall addition of late color to go with M. s. 'Morning Light'. Amsonia hubrechtii will mirror the texture of a grass but it's bright yellow fall color will contrast with the muted tones of grasses such as Molina caerulea 'Skyracer'. Look for late blooming gentians, Eupatorium r. 'Chocolate' and rich sedums like Sedum spectabile 'Matrona' and S. 'Purple Emperor' to celebrate the new palette of autumn. And add surprises with annuals like tall, September blooming Salvia 'Purple Majesty' and 'Indigo Spires'.
You can place selections like Fountain Grasses in mass near a stone wall or let Northern Sea Oats, Chasmanthim latifolium, naturalize under a large viburnum. Edge a stone path with Descahampsia 'Northern Lights' or brighten up a shady nook with Hakenechloa macra 'Aureola'. And if you decide to mix and match Miscanthus' with Pennisetums and Panicums you'll be on your way to crafting a grass garden to enjoy for years to come.
I like to remind people that gardening is a time to expend energy. Autumn is a cooler time to be in the garden, utilize the time to do chores, plant plants, divide favorite treasures, cleanup for spring and enjoy the colors, sound and movements of ornamental grasses. And when it comes to successfully designing with ornamental grasses and companion plantings, absorb the sagely advice of the past season, filter out what you can't use and go out to create something that is fun and uniquely your own!