One of the easiest and most rewarding perennials for the sunny to partly shaded garden, this Japanese Eulalia Grass is a marvel of color and form year-round. Its long, super-slender blade-like leaves are fresh green with white edges, creating a glistening silvery look. Late-summer maroon blooms turn beige for autumn and silver for winter, remaining on the plant to feed the birds for months. And this is a compact, naturally rounded grass, looking elegant in a container and pleasantly dense in a large planting! We highly recommend it for planting this season.
'Morning Light' earns its name with its stunning foliage, a sparkling confection of white and spring green. The foliage is upright, only arching at the very tip, so that it creates a fuzzy haloed effect. Reaching 4 to 6 feet high but just 2½ to 4 feet wide, it is the ideal size for a low hedge, large container planting, or mid-border standout. Great for the foundation, too, where its all-season interest can be appreciated every day.
In late summer or early fall, bronzy maroon blooms borne in long, tasselated wands top the foliage, remaining well into winter. Birds feast on the seeds contained in these blooms after they have dried to a papery consistency and silvery color. The sight of a songbird clinging to the slender but sturdy flowering stem and picking the final seeds out of the bloom, its entire body shaking in the autumn breeze, is extraordinary! Of course, you may also rescue as many plumes as you like from the garden, using them in fresh or dried indoor arrangements. They make long-lasting Everlastings.
Compact and very vigorous, 'Morning Light' is impervious to most pests and diseases, so it always looks fresh and neat. A less troublesome plant would be difficult to imagine, as would a more lovely one! Make it part of your sunny to partly shaded landscape this season. Zones 5-9.
