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Great Design Plant: Japanese Blood Grass
This dramatic, ruby-tinged grass bridges the gap between red and green, short and tall plants
I am a freelance editorial and wedding photographer and Houzz contributor based out of Hershey, PA. Come visit me at 'A Nest for All Seasons' where I write about design, photography and modern garden living!
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Anything with “blood” in its name doesn’t immediately appeal to me, but once I saw Japanese blood grass in action, I was sold. It is beautiful and waves gracefully in the wind, yet maintains an upright posture. It mixes well with a host of plants — no thug in my garden at all. Gardeners farther south see blood grass as a weed, because it propagates itself so well but here, in the mid-Atlantic region of the eastern United States, it is a nicely behaved gentleman.
Botanical name: Imperator cylindrical
Common name: Japanese blood grass
USDA zones: 6 to 9 (can get weedy in zones 8 and 9); find your zone
Water requirement: Loves water, but not wet feet
Light requirement: Part sun, part shade
Mature size: 18-24 inches tall
Benefits: Beautiful color, low grass with movement, propagates easily, easy to care for once established
Common name: Japanese blood grass
USDA zones: 6 to 9 (can get weedy in zones 8 and 9); find your zone
Water requirement: Loves water, but not wet feet
Light requirement: Part sun, part shade
Mature size: 18-24 inches tall
Benefits: Beautiful color, low grass with movement, propagates easily, easy to care for once established
| Japanese blood grass emerges in spring as a green grass but quickly adds blood-tinted tips as the season goes on. By mid-June, the grass is half red, half green and, by fall, it is almost completely red. The color works in harmony with the fall symphony of hot hues, but works just as well against blues and purples in the middle of summer. |
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| Try using Japanese blood grass as a skirt along climbers or plants with “bare knees” for a fun look. |
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| Used en masse, Japanese blood grass makes a grand statement and requires little to no care when restrained in large beds. |
| Japanese blood grass is perfect as a front of the border edging plant. It keeps a uniform size and shape, reaching about 18 inches tall. |
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by Gaile Guevara
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| Insert blood grass into a water garden for a shot of color from both the planting and the reflection it creates. |
Perhaps you want to try a twist on the classic spring bulb fairy circle. Plant blood grass in a circle within a planting of other low grasses. The grass will emerge green at first, then surprise with a circle of red as it grows and darkens. By fall, you will have a flaming circle of red.
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| Whether you insert blood grass into an existing planting or let it be the star, there is certainly a place for it in your mild-climate garden. Give it a try, but if you’re a Southern gardener, keep close watch that you don’t have a thug on your hands! More: Great Design Grasses |
Ideabook updated on June 28, 2012.
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Leave it as a container plant!