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Grass ID?

Retro1951Retro1951 Posts: 116
in Plants
Hello everyone, another day, another question..
Does anyone know the name of the grass in the white ribbed pot? This is last year's photo. It's my (ex-)neighbours, she thinks the move to London has killed it. When would it start to sprout if it's not dead????
Thank you so much for your time.


Posts

  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb Posts: 819
    It could be miscanthus. These grasses die down over winter and regrow in spring. I would expect to see some new growth towards the bottom of the plant. She should cut it back to around 4". If it is alive she will see green in the cut stems. 

    The other tell tale is if she tries to gently pull it from the pot and it comes away in her hand, in which case, the roots have rotted. Is the ribbed white planter for outdoor plants and has drainage holes in the bottom? If it doesn't and/or the plant has sat in water for a prolonged period of time that will be a likely cause of death.

  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    It's not miscanthus the leaves are too broad and they don't grow that way more like the pot behind.
    It's more like a phormium or a carex.
  • Retro1951Retro1951 Posts: 116
    It is not a phormium or miscanthus, she has those too. I wonder about care, but are their stems not quite short? Search continues. Thank you for your suggestions though.
  • Cambridgerose12Cambridgerose12 Posts: 1,134
    It's not a Carex or phormium, it's a grass for certain. Unfortunately, despite all the hype, grasses aren't really terribly happy in containers and tend to last only a few years in them. They need a sort of 'open plain' type of setting to endure, so your best best is to keep replacing regularly from small divisions. Anyhow I would recommend waiting for a few more weeks before discarding it, as the grasses are really only starting to wake up at this point.

    Without seeing the flowers I am not going to venture a guess about which species this is. It could be a Miscanthus (and this is most likely given its upright culms), but it could also be a Panicum. 
  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb Posts: 819
    A young pampass or Spartina pectinanta? Perhaps look at Knoll Gardens' website to see if she can recognise it from their online plant directory?
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Is it definitely a hardy plant?  To me it looks so much like the houseplant known as Spider plant Clorophytum comosum. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    If she can't spot it on the Knoll Gardens site, it may be worth contacting them to see if they can advise. I have found them very helpful in the past. 
  • Retro1951Retro1951 Posts: 116
    Thank you everyone for your contributions. It is very difficult to recognise the grasses from pictures, I have found. Also I did not realise there were so many different types of miscanthus. I will give her all (your) information, also the Knoll Gardens website and see how she goes... Thank you, much appreciated your help and suggestions and time invested.
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