Northern Sea Oats

Other Names: Uniola latifolia

Description:

This grass is grown for its lovely drooping hop-like seed heads that flutter in the wind; the seed heads mature to a purple-bronze color and make a nice accent when left on through the winter; use for fresh and dried flower arrangements

Ornamental Features:

Northern Sea Oats' grassy leaves are light green in colour. As an added bonus, the foliage turns a gorgeous coppery-bronze in the fall. The flowers are not ornamentally significant. It produces abundant clusters of purple hop-like fruit from late summer to late fall.

Landscape Attributes:

Northern Sea Oats is an herbaceous ornamental grass with a shapely form and gracefully arching stems. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance ornamental grass, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Northern Sea Oats is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• General Garden Use
• Mass Planting
• Container Planting
• Border Edging
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens

Plant Characteristics:

Northern Sea Oats will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 30 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years.

This ornamental grass does best in full sun to partial shade. It is quite adaptable, prefering to grow in average to wet conditions, and will even tolerate some standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution.

This species is native to parts of North America.