suprise !!

19 years ago

Last evening I was looking over my beds to see what needed to be done. This yeah I created a new bed around the neighbors mailbox and includes some Salvia "May Nigght", Stella D'oro Daylily, and a Pennisetum alopecuroides as the focal point. Here's a photo of the bed in July.

When I got close the the Stella in the front left of the photo, I noticed there were some Pennisetum plumes mixed in with the daylily. I assumed they were hanging down from the large grass but when I tried to move them away, they were growing in the daylily itself! There was a clump of Pennisetum growing up against the daylily, and a nice clump to boot. Probibly a root ball the size on my open hand. I dug them up and seperated the grass from the daylily and planted it in another place in my beds to see if it will make it through the winter. My question is, I thought pennisetum was sterile ? I've never had it reseed before and when I moved the daylilies early in the spring, there was no pennisteum in the rootball, nor growing anywhere near the daylilies in their previous home.

A nice suprise, but a suprise none the less. I wonder if a squirrel or chipmunk could have dug some up and it got moved or dropped there. The roots were deep, not just growing in the mulch.. Needless to say, I was flabergasted.

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Comments (7)

donn_
19 years ago
Species Pennisetum alopecuroides, and some of it's cultivars, like 'Moudry' are far from sterile. They reseed in warmer zones regularly.

That said, your volunteer Pennisetum would have to be last year's seed, if it's from seed at all. You wouldn't have a plant that size from this year's seed. I don't see volunteer seedlings until the following spring. Occasionally, I'll get a tight clump of seedlings, as if a seedhead fell in one spot, and several of it's seeds germinated together.
blackie57
Original Author
19 years ago
Donn,

That's what was so confusing to me. It would have HAD to be last years seed if anything. and when I moved these daylilies this spring, there was no P.a. anywhere near those daylilies. One of lifes little mysteries I guess.

Blackie
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tjsangel
19 years ago
That's a great surprise! I actually want my 'Moudry' to reseed and cover my backyard! Your bed looks great, and those plants go nicely together. Very inviting already.

Jen
grass_guy
19 years ago
Hey Blackie,

Did you buy the stellas in from a nursery? I've had plants piggypack in from nurseries lots of times. You might not have had a Penn.a. close by, but maybe at the nursery they did. At least it wasn't a weed popping up in the daylily. ;)

Is that a miscanthus in the back bed? Looks nice!

Jen,
I got rid of my moudry in my yard after the third year. I got really tired of pulling the seedlings up. Now, if you want to naturalize a hillside with moudry, it's self seeding comes in handy.
blackie57
Original Author
19 years ago
G-Guy, I got those Stella's from Ebay two years ago. They were planted behind that Miscanthus "Varigatus" in the far back bed while they got "bigger" and then I moved 6 of them up front here this spring. Here's a photo of where they used to be.

The middle bed has a M.S. "Zebrinus" behind the birdbath (you can see it's previous location next to the Stella's. It's taken off this year now in full sun)...

..and the far back bed has a M.s. "Purpenscens" and a M.s. "Varigatus" Here's a photo of those from closer up. This was in 2005:

And here they are in August this year. the Flame Grass is now a beautiful bronze/orange and full of plumes

By the way, the newly found "suprise grass" isn't much smaller than the new "Hamlin" in the photo above. I planted in front of the Flame grass about a month ago.
Blackie
grass_guy
19 years ago
Great photos! I bet the purpurascens is really starting to look great with its fall coloring in zone 5. I envy having a true fall!
juicylucy
19 years ago
Nice photos Blackie! I was surprised this yr. to find quite a few Miscanthus volunteers throughout the borders. Some were plain green w/white stripe and some variegated like strictus or zebrinus. If I had the time/inclination I would have liked to grow them on but ended up pulling most. With my luck I probably had the latest, greatest, most beautiful new Miscanthus cultivar ever and it ended up in the compost! O.k., highly unlikely but you just never know :~)