Muhlenbergia capillarisPink Muhly Grass

For about six weeks each autumn Muhlenbergia capillaris turns from a plain tuft of fine green leaves into a cloud of pink. The Pink Muhly Grass reaches 0.6 to 0.9 metres in leaf and 1 to 1.2 metres in flower, and the effect only works when it is planted in quantity.

It has become a fixture of contemporary mass planting for exactly that reason, running along medians and through meadow-style beds where a single specimen would be invisible.

Specifications

• Height0.6 to 0.9 metres in leaf, reaching 1 to 1.2 metres in flower
• Width0.6 to 0.9 metres
• Native toEastern and central North America
• FoliageFine wiry green to blue-green leaves in dense tufts; evergreen to semi-evergreen in warm climates
• Growth rateModerate

Conditions

• SoilAdapts to sandy, rocky and poor soils provided drainage is free
• LightFull sun
• WaterLow; drought-tolerant once established
• ClimateThrives in warm temperate, subtropical, coastal and arid regions with occasional irrigation

Additional Features

• FlowersAiry pink to purple flower clouds held above the foliage in autumn
• UsesIdeal for mass planting, median strips, meadow-style beds and contemporary borders
• SpacingPlant 0.6 to 0.8 metres apart so the clouds merge
• Low MaintenanceCut back to 0.1 metres in late winter and it regrows cleanly
• Pest ResistanceGenerally pest-free and resilient
• Drought TolerancePerforms on restrained irrigation once established
• Salt ToleranceTolerates coastal exposure and saline conditions
• Seasonal AppealSix weeks of pink haze in autumn, then a straw-blonde winter presence

Pink Muhly Grass is the most cost-effective autumn set piece in contemporary mass planting, provided it is specified in quantity.