Pennisetum is easily one of the most popular and easy to grow perennial ornamental grasses. There is a pennisetum for everyone, from dwarf ornametal grass lovers (20") to those looking for a tall ornamental grass (10'), upright habit or arching, tan or rose seed heads, and green or purple foliage. We offer a wide range of...
Read More About Pennisetum
...new, exciting pennisetum grass selections that will provide a whole new dimension to using ornamental grass. The tuft-like leaves of fountain grass and their stunning seed heads make deer-resistant, textural statements in the garden or in containers. Some of our favorites are Pennisetum orientale 'Tall Tales' and Pennisetum 'Karley Rose' both of which we have available from time to time.
Pennisetum can be cut back either in fall or spring, depending on how badly the winter weather ravages the foliage. Although pennisetum is extremely tolerant of adverse conditions, it prefers full to part sun and average garden soils. After seeing fountain grass growing on the seacoasts in Korea, I have a new appreciation for the salt tolerance of these ornamental grass plants.
We no longer offer or recommend the spectacular but aggressively reseeding Pennisetum 'Moudry' or Pennisetum viridescens...and doubt that they are actually selections of Pennisetum alopecuroides as some claim. Other fountain grass cultivars have not posed any problems with reseeding.
When you're ready to buy pennisetum (fountain grass) for your perennial garden, check out our online list of pennisetum for sale below. If you are looking to buy other ornamental grasses then check out our special "ornamental grasses" link on the left side of the screen for a long list of all of our ornamental grass for sale.
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!
This splendid Kurt Bluemel selection of fountain grass (introduced under the invalid name of Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Japonicum') has long been one of our favorites, and we were thrilled when it finally got a "proper" name. Pennisetum 'Foxtrot' makes a large, upright, 5' tall x 4' wide clump, topped in midsummer with 5' tall tan plumes. Pennisetum 'Foxtrot' has proven to be an outstanding, long-lived and reliable performer with much more vigor than typical Pennisetum alopecuroides. After a decade in our garden, we have never found any stray seedlings. If you've suffered silently from pennisetum envy by having the smallest one in the neighborhood...suffer no longer. Help in the form of Pennisetum 'Foxtrot' is here! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This selection of the deer-resistant Pennisetum orientale was discovered in 1995 by David Skwiot of Connecticut's Sunny Border Nurseries. Pennisetum 'Karley Rose' (named after David's daughter) stood out from all the other plants in a block of Pennisetum orientale seedlings for darker green foliage with a much taller and more upright habit. I really love this fountain grass and even after growing it for over 15 years, still hold it in very high esteem. For us, the lovely reddish-pink plumes top the clump starting in late May, but further north the plumes don't peak until early to mid-August. Trials have revealed that Pennisetum 'Karley Rose' is also much hardier than typical Pennisetum orientale. It's not hard to say enough good things about Pennisetum 'Karley Rose'. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Pennisetum 'Tall Tails' is a 1998 Plant Delights introduction that originated in a USDA seed bank for forage crops (via Woods Nursery in Pennsylvania, then Hoffman Nursery in NC). Pennisetum 'Tall Tails' has made the transformation into a staple of the ornamental grass lineup. This vigorous, heat-loving, deer-resistant Pennisetum orientale form from Pakistan makes a border-sized, upright, arching clump to 4.5' tall. The 9" long early fall plumes of tan, with a hint of pink, tower another 12" above the foliage...essentially a hardy Pennisetum setaceum...a designer's dream! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
