100 A LITTLE BOOK OF PERENNIALS 



Erianthus — Plume Grass, Hardy Pampas Grass 



In habit Erianthus Ravennx resembles the Pampas Grass, but it is 

 not as ornamental l)ecause the plumes are not as showy. It grows 

 5 feet to 10 feet tall. In a sunny location, in well-drained soil, this 

 grass is attractive as a specimen or for use among shrubs. 



Eulalia or Miscanthus — Japanese Rush 



The plain green and variegated sorts of Eulaha are of great value 

 in the garden. They grow 5 feet to 7 feet tall. Eulalia japonica has 

 deep green leaves 2 feet to 3 feet long and over an inch wide. E. 

 gracillima has long, drooping leaves, narrower than the former sort 

 and with a stripe of white through the center. E. japonica zebrina, 

 the Zebra grass, has leaves which are variegated, being marked cross- 

 wise with broad, yellowish white bands. 



Festuca — Blue Fescue 



This httle tufted grass, Festuca glauca, has silvery-blue foliage and 

 grows only 10 inches tall. The plants are evergreen, but it is advisable 

 to cut the old leaves from the plants early in the Spring before the 

 new crop is produced. It is especially recommended for edging in the 

 perennial border and in the rock garden. 



Gynerium or Cortaderia — Pampas Grass 



"What is there growing in the garden or wild more nobly distinct 

 and beautiful than the great silvery plumes of this plant waving in the 

 autumnal gusts — the burial plumes as it were, of our Summer too early 

 dead," writes Robinson in "Subtropical Gardening." LInfortunately, 

 the plants are rather tender and require mulching in Winter, or they 

 may be taken up and wintered in a cool cellar. The plumes are the 

 handsomest, most graceful of all grasses and the needed care is worth 

 the trouble. 



Pennisetum — Fountain Grass 



Most of the Fountain Grasses are annuals, but Pennisetum ja- 

 ponicum is a perennial, grows 3 feet to 4 feet tall, and has fox tail-hke 

 plumes of rich mahogany tipped with white. 



