Purple Moor Grass
A little care on planting and soil preparation will make this grass thrive but ignoring its basic needs will result in it not thriving and withering away in your garden.
Growing Conditions
This grass in its native haunts thrives in open sunlight in moist, infertile soils that are acidic. This means our garden soil has to be damp. It also means that you have to ensure it is growing in acidic soil if you want it to thrive.
While it is found in poor soils in the wild, it will survive in gardens as long as it is kept in dampish, acidic or almost-so soils (in other words, don't feed it but don't worry about it if you feed nearby plants).
Hardiness is easily into USDA zone 4
Propagating Purple Moor Grass
Divide this plant in the early spring or early fall (in warmer climates) for best results. It will self sow although the named varieties will not likely come true from seed.
Varieties to Search For
'Ramsay' 3 feet tall, stems tinted yellow tones
'Skyracer' 3 feet tall, very narrow leaves attractive in the breeze.
'Variegata' 2 feet tall, leaves green and cream-yellow
There are a larger number of varieties available in Europe that are slowly making their way to North America and may be available through specialty growers. The best advice I can give you is that if you can grow the species with its requirements, then definitely try some of the fancier Purple Moor Grass varieties.
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