when should I plant my muhly grass babies?

11 years ago

Hi friends!

I recently (in the past month or so) planted some purple muhly grass seeds and have been raising the baby plants indoors. The small plants are about 4 to 5 inches tall now and I have them in self-watering containers in my modified "grow-trunk" with lights on a timer. (See picture below.) I started these much later in the season than I probably should have, so they will still be very small in the fall. My question is this - would it be wiser to keep them indoors through the fall and winter and plant them when the weather warms up next spring, or should I go ahead and plan them outdoors when the weather begins to cool down slightly (it's been averaging in the mid-90s every day, but should start to cool down in September)? By planting them in September and giving them TLC outdoors, do you think it would it be enough time to allow them to establish and survive the winter?? Keep in mind - Tulsa is at the lowest end of their growing zone - zone 6ish.

Does anyone have experience planting this grass later in the summer and having it survive winter outdoors? I'm open to all thoughts and suggestions! Thanks!!

And yes, I think my grow trunk is awesome... I've also got some English lavender growing from seed (that will definitely stay indoors this winter).

Featured Answer

User

11 years ago

I don't know how big your planting area is but the plants get quite large. You want spacing to around 4ft, 3ft at the least. Santa Rosa Gardens sells 4" plugs. Those quickly grow into gallon sized plants and would easily be hardy in Tulsa. I think they have some pink muhly available at sale prices. You could set them in the ground right now and get some good root growth before winter sets in. They do well grown dry and like good drainage. Unless your area is low and wet or heavy clay you should do fine. My pink muhly plants are more than 4 feet in diameter this year with all the rain we got in spring.

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Comments (7)

User
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
I hate to tell you this but that is definitely not Muhly grass. It survives winter easily here and plants are available at local nurseries. Muhly grass has much finer leaves which all grow out at the base, not on stems like that. Where did you get the seeds? It looks like common crabgrass, your seed might not have been pure. Its not a heavy seeder & the seeds are a bit finicky about germinating with a low germination rate. I usually get a few volunteers from established plants and those make it through winter here in Oklahoma City.

Here are some photos, young gallon sized plants and a 4" plug.
User
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
ps...Lavender volunteers also winter well outdoors. I have 6 out there that came up this spring and they are doing quite well, they like it dry and need good drainage, be careful not to over water. The mature plants are rather short lived in Oklahoma and often don't make it but the small ones always do. I'd harden them off and plant them out in late summer or early fall myself.
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Erin Powell
Original Author
11 years ago
Well, that is very disappointing! I will check with the distributor. I was actually wondering about them since the leaves didn't seem as fine as what I expected it would look like.
Erin Powell
Original Author
11 years ago
I'm wondering if it is Karly Rose Fountain Grass that was mislabled... thoughts? Anybody have a picture of what fountain grass looks like when it is only 4 to 5 inches tall?
Erin Powell
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you so much texasranger2! I will take a look at Santa Rosa Gardens. I've emailed the seed distributor to inform them of the error - they have a good reputation so I'm wondering if it was an honest mistake. I've taken to the internet and I have a strong suspicion that what I may have is Purple Love Grass. If I get some plugs of the muhly grass, I may try to incorporate them together.

I did leave a pretty large space for the row of muhly grass in my garden (though I do want them to grow together some so I get the pinkish purple cloud effect and the pretty movement of the grass blades all together.

Thank you for the help with identification... it would have been awhile before I caught it.
User
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
That makes sense. Its probably Love Grass because of the consistency in seedlings. It'd be hard to imagine that many seedlings of one type all being weed seeds that got in the packs. By the way, Purple Love Grass reseeds like crazy. If you plant them out, and I definitely would this year after letting them harden off a couple weeks starting in shade, you will laugh to remember babying them like that once you see how many volunteers you end up with the following year. I've done that before too.

Karley Rose is a hybrid pennisetum with sterile seeds. Only the species comes true from seed and in some places its considered invasive.

Santa Rosa Gardens is a great place to order from. I'm getting ready to place an order on some sale grasses before the fall prices set in. They have a fall sale later on and I've had 100% success planting at that time, its the best time in Oklahoma for that. If you are wanting pink, P. Karley Rose grows REAL REAL fast, you'll have mature looking plants next year.