Making it right
The agave bed in the front garden. Clockwise from bottom left: white skullcap, ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave, Mexican oregano, bamboo muhly and irises (in the background), ‘Adagio’ miscanthus, and white narrowleaf zinnia.
Perhaps the ornamental grass pictured above is truly an ‘Adagio’ miscanthus, and perhaps it isn’t. Suddenly I’m suspicious of all my new grasses. After years of planting only native grasses like Lindheimer muhly, pine muhly, and Mexican feathergrass, I’ve recently added a few miscanthus grasses to my garden. I also tried a ‘Hamelin’ pennisetum, but it must have thought it was Hamlet instead; after a few months of indecision, it decided not to be, and promptly died on me.
Since I’m not as familiar with the non-native grasses, I rely on nursery tags and online research to be sure of what to buy. I’ve been pleased with a new ‘Yaku Jima’ miscanthus that I planted last winter and decided to repeat it on the other side of the garden. So a couple of weeks ago I bought another one from Barton Springs Nursery, stuck it in the ground, and watched with surprise as blond, bottlebrush seedheads opened up instead of the flatter, broader seedheads of my other ‘Yaku Jima.’ I like this new grass, but it isn’t what I thought I was buying or what I wanted.
I went back to Barton Springs Nursery this morning and talked to Dave, one of the managers, about it. We looked at their grass section, saw more of those bottlebrush grasses labeled as ‘Yaku Jima,’ and were cast into doubt about the legitimacy of the grower’s labels. Back in the office, Dave looked up ‘Yaku Jima’ online and found various sites calling different grasses by the same name. Several of them, however, backed up my assumption that I’d really gotten a ‘Yaku Jima’ the first time, and that the second grass was something else altogether.
How confusing is that?! Anyway, Dave made it right by giving me a store credit for the amount I’d spent on the imposter. My plan is to come back in the fall, when the grasses are all blooming, and select the same kind I bought the first time.
Meanwhile, my ‘Adagio’ miscanthus, above, hasn’t started blooming, so I’m curious to know whether it will end up being an ‘Adagio’ at all. We will see!
While I’m waiting for the grasses to sort themselves out, the Engelmann’s daisy that MSS gave me this spring is blooming beautifully.
Salvia guaranitica glows in the shadier back garden.
A butterfly visits a narrowleaf zinnia (they both look a little ragged, don’t they?) . . .
and a bee buzzes around an Engelmann’s daisy. Summer in the garden.
That bee has his eyes on you! Labels and wrong labels can be very frustrating! At least the store manager took his time to do some research and satisfy the customer. Good job!
Yes, I was happy with the nursery manager’s response. Great service, once again, at BSN. —Pam
Glad you’re liking the Engelmann daisy. Mine bloomed strong through June but have died back now. They fill a late spring/early summer gap for me.
I guess mine were delayed by the early-summer transplantation from your garden, then boosted by the summer rain. They’re filling in a mid-summer gap for me, near my irises. —Pam
Interesting that he found quite a few sites with ‘Yaku Jima’ designating different grasses. I have only seen it used in reference to a variety of miscanthus sinensis (common names include eulalia grass, maiden grass, maiden hair grass, Japanese silvergrass) with that name, so I’ll have to go do a search to see what else is out there. In any case, it’s great that he did take the time to talk with you, and make it right.
ps. I’m still grinning about your Hameln/Hamlet grass! 🙂
Sometimes my word-play sense of humor gets away from me. 😉 —Pam
Pretty pictures, my bees and butterflies never sit still to let me take a picture! I love your first pic because its inspiration for me on how to use the agaves and grass I have in pots in my nursery!
I’m glad to provide a little inspiration. Do you ever visit Soul of the Garden for more agave inspiration? That’s where I decided I had to start growing a few agaves myself. —Pam
That’s quite the saga with the grasses … it is disappointing when a plant is mis-labelled and one ends up with something completely different. At least you got a credit for the plant.
I like the Engelmann daisy. It is a simple, elegant flower. So is the narrow-leaf Zinnia. And then there is the blue and black Salvia. I’ve planted some as annuals this year and I think they are some of my favourite blooms this summer. If only I could figure out a way to over-winter them.
Your photographs are beautiful.
Thanks, Kate. Sometimes I’m lucky with the narrowleaf zinnias and they come back from seed, though not, of course, where I planted them. Down here the black-and-blue salvias will overwinter, as will the Engelmann’s daisy. But maybe seed collection is the answer for gardeners like you who live too far north for overwintering. Did you see that Colleen is starting a seed-exchange? —Pam