Pennisetum alopecuroides
Swamp foxtail grass, Chinese pennisetum, Chikara shiba
Also known as Pennisetum compressum
- Height × spread
- 0.45m – 1.2m × 0.4m – 1m
- Position
- Full sun
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
Fantastically fluffy grass with a long season of interest and warming autumn colour. The little pink or red bottlebrush floweheads bob about on fine stems amidst long arching green foliage, which turns orange and yellow by autumn. Sizes vary, small ones growing to a height/spread 45cm, which are useful for softening border, path or patio edges, to larger specimens over one metre tall/wide.
- Flower colour
- Beige, Brown, Green, Pink, Purple, Red, White
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Fruit colour
- Beige
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Fan, Weeping
- Height
- 0.45m – 1.2m
- Spread
- 0.4m – 1m
- Season of interest
- Summer, Autumn
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Small scale garden, Prairie garden, Gravel garden, Cottage garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Well drained soil, Dry soil, Drought resistant
- Winter hardiness
- Varies, most are not hardy
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Hedge, Ground cover, Bird attraction
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with slow release fertiliser
Apply a general purpose slow release fertiliser, spreading it around the root area of the plant as it is coming into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water in dry periods
Established plants in the ground can cope with 7-10 days of dryness, and shrubs often manage 2 to 3 weeks. Water one section of the garden thoroughly each day rather than a little everywhere. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather.
Spring - late · Planting
Divide when too large
When the plant is too large clumps may be divided into two or more pieces. Rhizomes can be cut, whilst small bulbs or offsets are detached. The new plants can be grown in a container or planted in the ground.
Winter
Winter - mid-late · Planting
Prune to the ground in winter
Cut foliage to the ground before new growth starts in spring.
Where stems are grown for ornamental value, they should be removed either before new growth starts in spring, or during winter when they begin to look ragged or untidy.
Found in
More Pennisetum
Pennisetum
Fountain grass
Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum'
Purple fountain grass
Pennisetum alopecuroides
Fountain grass, Swamp foxtail grass, Chinese pennisetum, Chikara shiba
Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln'
Fountain grass, Swamp foxtail grass, Chinese pennisetum, Chikara shiba
Pennisetum alopecuroides f. viridescens
Fountain grass, Swamp foxtail grass, Chinese pennisetum, Chikara shiba
Pennisetum glaucum 'Purple Baron'
Ornamental millet, Pearl millet
Pennisetum x advena 'Fireworks'
Variegated Fountain grass
Pennisetum 'African Breeze'
Fountain grass