Deschampsia - Tufted Hair Grass

Hair Grass (Deschampsia)
(dess-champ' see-ah)
The 18th century French naturalist Louis Deschamps would be proud. This ornamental grass has the benefits of relative dwarfness combined with big, showy panicles of flowers and seed heads. Deschampsia varieties grow from 2 to 4 feet tall, and generally as wide, in an arching habit. They are suitable for adding to gardens that are moist and rich, but the grow well in poor dry soil as well.

More about the look of the plant
Deschampsia have large open panicles of flowers from 10 to 18 inches long and 6 to 8 inches wide. Individual flowers are silver, green or purple, often all at the same time. They bloom from mid-summer to fall and are most attractive through fall and winter.

How to grow Hair Grass
Deschampsias are hardy from zones 4 to 9, with a few selective varieties and species being more or less hardy. See notes below for more exact hardiness ratings for each plant.

In terms of soil, they will tolerate most, except extremes in level of moisture. They tolerate drought with only minimal browning of foliage, but would prefer some shade if they are going to be submitted to this all the time.

Plant them in sun or dappled shade.

Occasionally, Deschampsias fall victim to rust. This is a fungal disease which causes the plant to get orange patches on leaves, then flower stems, and die. Remove rust-infected materials from your garden as soon as you see them.

Always cut back the previous year's growth in spring, just as new foliage is becomming visible.

Deschampsia Varieties

Tufted Hair Grass
Deschampsia caespitosa (cess-pi-toe' sah)
Grows from 2 to 3 feet tall, sporting bronze to cream panicles, will tolerate part shade if sufficient moisture, resents heat and humidity present in many areas of the south Floridan Californian coast. Numerous varieties available including...
'Bronzeschleier' - Bronze Veil - to 3 feet tall, bronze-yellow flowers.
'Fairy's Joke' - To 3 feet tall, cream flowers with small plantlets common in pannicles, weight of which causes stems to bend to form a graceful, but invasive, arch.
'Goldgehaenge' - Gold Shower - 3 feet tall, golden yellow shower of flowers in long drooping panicles.
'Goldschleier' - Gold Veil - 2 to 3 feet tall, bright yellow flowers in light panicles.
'Goldstaub' - Gold Dust - Only 1 to 2 feet tall, yellow flowers.
'Schottland' - Scotland - A big one, 4 to 6 feet tall, with cream flowers.

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