At the January 2013 meeting of the PEI Garden Club, the featured speaker was Paulette Kelly from Lovegrass Farm in Dunstaffnage. Lovegrass Farm grows and sells field dug ornamental grasses, lavender, twig wreaths, shrubs, hardy roses, ferns, willows, and more, as well as cut flower arrangements.
address: 706 Suffolk Rd, Rte 222, Dunstaffnage PEI
phone: 902-629-1465
e-mail: lovegrassfarm@hotmail.com
blog: www.lovegrassfarm.blogspot.com
"One of the greatest joys of growing ornamental grasses is watching them change over the season. They are wonderful to watch on a windy day."
Paulette talked about the differences between warm season and cool season grasses. Warm season grasses are slow to emerge in spring. They flower later in the season. Cool season grasses green up in early spring and flower in summer. Cool season grasses should be cut back in early spring, 6 inches from the ground.
This year, the farm will be open to customers the first week of May until early June for ornamental grass sales by appointment or by chance. E-mail or call ahead to avoid disappointment. Grasses sell for $5 per clump. Hardy Krajova Czech Angustifolia lavender plants are $7 to $10 each.
The following grasses will be for sale in 2013:
- Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
- Side Oats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)
- Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracillis)
- Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' & 'Overdam')
- Carex buchanii 'Red Rooster', Carex morrowii 'Ice Dance'
- Palm Sedge (Carex muskingumensis) and Carex 'The Beatles'
- Deschampsia cespitosa 'Native' and 'Bronzeschelier'
- Deschampsia flexuosa 'Native'
- Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis)
- Sand Lovegrass (Eragrostis trichodes)
- Festuca glauca 'Elija blue'
- Festuca 'Mairei'
- Blue Oat Grass (Helictotrichon sepmervirens)
- June Grass (Koeleria cristata)
- Dunegrass (Leymus arenarius)
- Miscanthus Giganteus
- Miscanthus Purpurascens
- Miscanthus sinensis varieties: 'Gracillimus', 'Sarabande', 'Variegatus'
- Panicum virgatum 'Native', 'Heavy Metal', Shenandoah'
- Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
- Seslaria autumnalis & heuflriana
- Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans (Indian grass)
- Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)
- Spartina pectinata and 'Aureomarginata'
1. The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes by Rick Drake
2. The American Meadow Garden by John Greenlee, photography by Saxon Holt
3. Native Ferns, Moss & Grasses by William Culina
4. Grasses by Nancy Ondra, photography by Saxon Holt
5. Planting Design Garden in Time and Space by Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury
Visit www.bluestem.cawww.bluestem.ca
For inspiration on native lawns, check out the photos of Charles Mann - Native Grass Lawn and Xeriscape.
http://charlesmann.photoshelter.com/gallery/Native-Grass-Lawns-and-Xeriscapes-photos/G0000BAeXT0_53nw/C0000_FHC7DXP7Xchttp://charlesmann.photoshelter.com/gallery/Native-Grass-Lawns-and-Xeriscapes-photos/G0000BAeXT0_53nw/C0000_FHC7DXP7Xc
Directions to Lovegrass farm: From the Bypass, head east on highway 2 towards Souris (6.6 km)
Turn left on Suffolk Road Rte. 222 north. The farm is 1.09 km on the right. They share a driveway. l Take a sharp left for 706 Suffolk Road.
