Sunday, August 1, 2010

Inland Sea Oats


Inland sea oats are one of the more graceful plants in the garden. They are known variously as inland sea oats, Indian wood oats, wild oats, river oats, flathead oats,upland oats, and upland sea oats
  The lightest breeze sends them dancing about.  They retain that gracefulness when  cut for dried arrangements and no special drying arrangements need be made for them. Just cut, remove foliage (or leave on if you like) and place them in a container and they will dry just as they are, going from green to a nice light brown as they dry. And cut them you should. They are aggressive spreaders from perennial roots as well as seed.I originally planted them from seed, but I would not plant them in my flower beds again. The first few years they were well behaved; then they began to spread and every year since I have fought them. They would have been fine planted in some out of the way place where they had to struggle, like maybe beside the road where good soil and water are in short supply. It grows best in shade to part sun, but will tolerate full sun if plenty of water is available.Too much sun turns the foliage a sickly yellow.

No comments:

Post a Comment