Grasses & Foliage

Ornamental grasses are colored, leafy plants, usually with slender blades. Our offerings come in a variety of shapes, heights, and colors and many will bloom with seed fronds. In addition to adding dramatic interest and beauty to your garden, ornamental grasses also provide food and shelter for pollinators and wildlife.

They are huge! Native grasses are especially well suited to their local environment, requiring less care and maintenance than many non-native plants. Using native grasses in landscaping can save water, attract local pollinators and wildlife, and even improve the soil.

Absolutely! They can be a dramatic and beautiful addition to your garden. Ornamental grasses provide texture, movement, and visual interest with their unique shapes and colors.

You can maintain healthy grass growth with proper watering, fertilization, and aeration. To discourage pests and diseases, use preventive measures and address issues promptly.

Foliage plants are often grown for their leaves rather than flowers or fruit, although at Annie’s we do have some great foliage options that bloom nicely. Foliage plants can provide diverse leaf colors, shapes, and patterns. They are perfect for filling in spaces in the garden and provide a wonderful background for vibrant annual and perennial flowering plants.

Foliage plants play a significant role in outdoor landscaping. They can fill out areas of the garden, making it look more lush, and they can also add texture and color to the landscape. Our offerings provide great pairing options with our annual and perennial flowering plants.

Native plants are perfectly suited to their local environment, so they are easy to grow, need less care, and require fewer pesticides. Using native foliage plants can help attract pollinators while also helping to conserve water and reduce maintenance.

To protect outdoor foliage plants, regularly inspect them for signs of pests or diseases. Apply appropriate treatments, such as insecticidal soap or fungicides, if issues arise.

If you're new to gardening, consider starting with low-maintenance foliage and grass options like sedges, amaranths, celosias, and even herbs like mint, basil, oregano or thyme. They tend to be forgiving and require minimal care.

The best grass for your lawn depends on your region and climate. At Annie’s, some of our favorite ornamental grasses are:

Sedges: grassy or rush-like plants growing in dense clumps.

Lemongrass: a lush, graceful, and aromatic ornamental grass, which is also edible and a must-have for an herb garden.

Festuca: evergreen, perennial tufted grass like our striking gray, blue Festuca glauca ‘Elijah Blue’.

Pink Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) and Ruby Grass (Melinus nerviglumis) add movement, drama and color to any landscape or garden.

Needle Grass: Grass with sharply pointed leaves with airy, waving, often threadlike seedheads. Try our nodding needle grass (Stipa cernua) or purple needlegrass (Stipa pulchra).

More common varieties available throughout the country are:

Kentucky Bluegrass (Poa pratensis): famous for its fine texture and deep green color. Kentucky bluegrass is a popular choice for lawns in cooler climates.

Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon): a warm-season grass prized for its heat tolerance and drought resistance. It is a type of lawn grass that you can plant in sports fields and golf courses.

Zoysia Grass (Zoysia spp.): a warm-season grass with a dense, carpet-like growth habit. It's well-suited for lawns in warm regions.

Ryegrass (Lolium spp.): a cool-season grass that you can use for overseeding warm-season lawns in the fall for year-round greenery.

Buffalo Grass (Bouteloua dactyloides): a drought-tolerant grass native to high plains areas from Montana to Mexico and known for its low water and maintenance requirements.

Centipede Grass (Eremochloa ophiuroides): a low-maintenance, slow-growing grass that thrives in acidic soils.

St. Augustine Grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum): a warm-season grass known for its lush, coarse texture and shade tolerance.

Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea): a cool-season grass often used in lawns, particularly in transition zones where both warm and cool seasons are experienced.

Bahia Grass (Paspalum notatum): a warm-season grass famous for its heat and drought resistance, making it suitable for southern regions.

Blue Grama Grass (Bouteloua gracilis): a warm-season grass native to central plains areas in North America. It is known for its unique seed heads and is well-adapted to arid environments. It is commonly used with Buffalo grass.

Seashore Paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum): a salt-tolerant grass present in coastal areas and golf courses near the ocean.

Bentgrass (Agrostis spp.): a fine-textured, cool-season grass often used on golf course putting greens.

Zebra Grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus'): an ornamental grass known for its distinct horizontal stripes on its leaves.

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum): a native warm-season grass used in conservation, biofuel production, and ornamental landscaping.

At Annie’s, we offer a wide variety of foliage options for different growing conditions. Some plants have broad, lush leaves, while others have slender, elegant ones. We also offer flowering foliage and many different succulent options to help fill in your garden and add texture and lushness. We offer foliage plants of many different colors, heights, and variegated patterns.