While everyone has seen the typical green mondo grass, the Japanese have been selecting new color forms and size variations of ophiopogon for years. Plant Delights has one of the largest selections of rare and unusual mondo grasses in the US. Ophiopogons are durable, easy-to-grow, low-maintenance, ornamental grass-like groundcovers for shady perennial gardens.
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Plants in the genus ophiopogon are either clumpers or runners. Some of the running ophiopogon cultivars (such as Ophiopogon 'Gyoku Ryu') produce a tight mat of foliage, while others, like black mondo grass (Ophiopogon 'Arabicus') produce a more open patch. Ophiopogon prefers partial shade and even moisture, but is drought-tolerant once established. When you are ready to buy ophiopogon, we hope you will check out our selection of mondo grass for sale below.
Since 1988, Plant Delights Nursery has been the choice of serious gardeners and plant collectors looking for the best and rarest perennial plants. We are pleased to have received the Perennial Plant Association Retail Award in 2011, the American Horticulture Society Commercial Award in 2002, and to have been selected as one of the Best Mail Order Plant Sources - Garden Design Magazine 2010. Welcome to our family of plant lovers!
Ophiopogon 'Comet' is a little known selection of Ophiopogon japonicus with narrow, vertical, white banding similar to other variegated cultivars, but the overall effect is a much darker plant when used en masse. Whether there are fewer stripes, or the green is darker, we don't know...but it's definitely different! Ophiopogon 'Comet' is not extraordinarily vigorous, but you should expect a 3' wide patch in 5 years...a great way to lighten the woodland garden. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
"Simply irresistible" is the best way to describe this dwarf version of mondo grass with dark green, grass-like foliage, which eventually makes a tight mat in even the worst of conditions. Plant dwarf mondo on 6-12" centers for a wonderful evergreen groundcover. Ophiopogon 'Gyoku Ryu' could best be described as looking like a rich, dark green lawn of pre-mowed grass...what a great idea! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(aka: Ophiopogon j. A1K-130) I spotted this unusual mondo grass when making the exhaustive hike over the top of Korea's Ullung Island in 1997. Unlike most mondos, this plant formed a very narrow leaf clump, to 12" tall x 20" wide, without any sign of a runner. The light lavender flowers of spring give rise to bright blue berries in fall. Although Ophiopogon japonicus is the only species that this could be, it is unlike any Ophiopogon japonicus that I've ever seen. This has great garden potential for the woodland garden where a running mondo is not acceptable. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(aka: Ophiopogon 'Nigrescens', 'Ebony Knight') This has long been one of the stars in our NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored Plants) garden...actually I think this black garden thing is catching on. Originally introduced in the US in 1960 by California's Oakhurst Gardens, each 6" tall circular mound is composed of truly black 0.25" wide foliage. Spreading slowly by rhizomes, a single plant of Ophiopogon 'Arabicus' will make a nice 18" wide mat in 3 years. For quicker coverage, we plant on 10-12" centers. This easy-to-grow groundcover makes a fabulous backdrop for blues, golds and good imaginations...do you have a dream? Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
I'll admit to getting a bit too excited over new liriopes and ophiopogons, but I hope you'll agree with me that this one merits our enthusiasm. From the UK's Steve Yandell comes a new selection of Ophiopogon planiscapus that forms a large 1' tall clump, remaining tighter and growing faster than the spreading Ophiopogon 'Arabicus'. We have not grown this long enough to confirm all of Steve's claims, but he's never led us astray before...come to think of it, we've never met him before either. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
.jpg "Epimedium wushanense (Wushan Fairy Wings)")
.jpg "Ophiopogon japonicus 'Comet' (Variegated Mondo Grass)")
