ribbon grass

Emily felt quite old and sophisticated because she had to lift her shimmering skirt clear of the ribbon grasses.

Where there is plenty of room for it, the well-known ribbon grass, one of the Phalaris clan, is well worth having.

Maiden pinks get a crew cut with hedge sheers, and once ribbon grass sports brown tips, it is cut to the ground.

Another neighbor grows a wide band of ribbon grass (Phalaris arundinacea), sometimes known as gardener's garters, along one side of her house.

Ribbon grass was popular with the Victorians, and it remains vigorous; one healthy clump guarantees a supply for generations of gardeners: it is easy to divide.

A number of cultivars of P. arundinacea have been selected for use as ornamental plants, including variegated (striped) cultivars - sometimes called ribbon grass - such as 'Castor' and 'Feesey'.

Foliage plants such as Alchemilla mollis, hostas, Ajuga reptans "Purpurea" and the Gardener's garters or ribbon grass, Phalaris arundinacea "Picta" provide a leafy oasis in the summer months.

"Repetition of forms is important, too," she said, pointing her shears at an exemplary clump of thin, red-hued Japanese blood grass (Imperata cylindrica Rubra), which echoed stands of the elegant green Miscanthus sinensis gracillimus and striped ribbon grass (Phalaris arundinacea).

Jane learned at once and for ever the art of getting out of a buggy and they went through a little white gate, with a black wooden decoy duck on one of its posts, and up a red walk edged with ribbon grass and big quahaug shells.