Pennisetum 'Fairy Tails'
Ornamental grasses are an integral part of the garden, and become more important as we approach autumn. The grace and texture they offer provide a welcome sense of freshness. At Wisley, Pennisetum 'Fairy Tails' fills a couple of beds in the Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden with beautiful green foliage topped with soft, feathery spikes that look like pale pink brushes. Look out for it on Seven Acres too, and in the Plant Centre.
Vital statistics
- Common name
- Fountain grass 'Fairy Tails'
- Family
- Poaceae
- Height & spread
- 1.2m high x 1m wide
- Form
- Clump-forming perennial
- Soil
- Moderately fertile, well-drained, light soil
- Aspect
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Frost hardy
Pennisetum
This genus of annual and perennial grasses comprises approximately 120 species found in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate zones across the world: native habitats range from woodland to savannah. Pennisetum is grown for its feathery panicles of spikelets borne in summer and autumn and looks particularly effective in mixed borders.
The name Pennisetum is derived from the Latin words penna meaning a feather and seta a bristle.
Pennisetum 'Fairy Tails'
'Fairy Tails' is an upright, clump-forming, semi-evergreen perennial grass with flat, linear, pointed, grey-green leaves and, in summer, narrow panicles of pink-flushed, golden brown spikelets.
This cultivar is unusually upright, and it is good in mixed borders and grass borders, and the flowerheads are useful in fresh and dried flower arrangements.
Cultivation
- Grow in full sun in a well-drained, moderately fertile soil
- Cut back dead top-growth by early spring
- In frost-prone areas mulch in winter with a dry material
Propagation
- Divide in late spring or early summer