Liriope muscari 'Peedee Ingot'

Wow! From South Carolina plantswoman Ursula Herz comes an incredible monkey grass that forms an 18" tall x 30" wide clump of brilliant golden foliage. In shade, the foliage of Liriope 'Peedee Ingot' fades to a chartreuse-green in late summer, but when grown with any sun exposure, the foliage remains bright gold all year. Liriope 'Peedee Ingot' (named after SC's Pee Dee River) makes a great golden textural accent in the garden, combining nicely with other contrasting colors. In late summer, the clumps are topped with typical 1' tall spikes of lilac-lavender flowers.

Maintenance:

Liriope requires very little maintenance. Liriope foliage is usually handsome all year long. Its showy flowers are most welcome in the late summer/earliest fall garden. Though it is standard practice to cut the foliage back before spring this is not an absolute necessity. Certainly do so if the foliage has become shabby. It is highly advisable to do this by late winter before tender new shoots start developing so the new shoots are not damaged during this clean up work. It is also highly recommended that this removal of old foliage is done in late winter and not in fall or early winter for a cut back plant is not a thing of beauty and postponing cutback to late winter means that there will be shorter time before the cut back foliage is replaced by new. Cutting back old foliage is not required by the plant but benefits only the tidy minded gardener.

Growing Conditions:

Monkey grass is happiest in shade. It will tolerate sun but its foliage will be yellow and shabby if exposed to too much hot sun. It requires only average soil, average moisture and drainage. Clumps do not require division, at least not for many years, but can be divided if one wanted additional plants.

Natural Impacts:

Liriope muscari is a handsome evergreen presence in the shade garden. Its late summer flowers a touch of color and freshness when there are few other plants blooming in the shade garden. This cultivar 'Pee Dee Ingot' is a brilliant spot of "gold" in the lightly shaded garden where it gets enough sun to be gold and not green. Extensive research has proven that Liriope does not need to be planted in lines bordering sidewalks and similar structures, and can instead be planted individually or in freeform masses.