Magnificent Muhly Grasses

These drought-tolerant grasses come in a variety of sizes and colors to suit your garden

The muhly supergrass genus , Muhlenbergia , contains over 150 mintage of grasses and was named after the self - taught German American botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg ( 1753–1815 ) . Several weed in this genus are excellent candidates for Southern Plains garden . brave , drouth - tolerant , and easy to deal for , they like full or partial sun . Here are my favorites .

Gulf muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris, Zones 6–10)

Gulf muhly , also known as pinkish muhly , is perhaps the best - known muhly pasture in our neighborhood due to its hazy , supernal pinkish blossom in the fall . Muhlies are clump - forge dope , and gulf muhly incline to spring a clump about 2 to 3 feet wide and tall . Tall , purplish pink inflorescence appear at the crown and take on a feathery look that is striking in group plantings . A cultivar ofMuhlenbergia capillariscalled ‘ White Cloud ’ is a gorgeous alternative to the traditional pink and boast soft , clean , billowy inflorescences . It blooms a few week later than traditional gulf muhly , so interplanting the two will bring on a long muhly prime time of year . While some horticulturists commend geld gulf muhlies back to a myopic mound in the wintertime , I favour to leave them standing year - round and but graze them out when they seem shaggy with dead leaves .

Big muhly (Muhlenbergia lindheimeri, Zones 7–10)

Big muhly , or Lindheimer ’s muhly , is a KO star for delimitation and backdrop . At full sizing it is gravid than gulf muhly ( about 3 to 4 foot extensive and tall ) and has a more upright human body . rather of delicate pink inflorescences , grown muhly makes sturdier fluent seed heads , which counterpoint beautifully with its blue - green foliage . It is heavy enough and statuesque enough to use as a screening plant and is a handy reliever for Pampas grass ( Cortaderia selloana , Zones 8–10 ) . large muhlies are highly drouth tolerant once base and suffer no major pestilence . As for care , many landscapers pressed for metre cut them down to small mounds in the wintertime , which allow for them vulnerable to rot from accumulated rainfall . The idealistic winter treatment for big muhlies is to burn down them in a insure burn , although this is not a practicable option in most situations . or else , I allow them brook through the wintertime , as the dry out seed stalks add visual interest . Then in early spring I switch off out the dried stalks and skim the foliage from bottom to top to dispatch numb leaf .

Pine muhly (Muhlenbergia dubia, Zones 7–10)

If a bighearted muhly is too big for your particular situation , then the true pine muhly might be just right . Standing only about 2 to 3 feet tall , it has a rather soaked , upright appearance and whitish - tan come heads . It has a somewhat more formal look than the aeriform gulf muhly and prefers dry conditions . Pine muhlies work especially well in pitiful , jumpy dirt , since they are native to rocky outcropping in the Trans - Pecos stack in West Texas .

Seep muhly (Muhlenbergia reverchonii, Zones 5–10)

Seep muhlies do OK in dry to moist filth but are often ground near seeps in the wild . This makes them a nice candidate for embed near water feature in a crop garden . They are about 1 to 3 feet wide and tall and resemble a earthball of wiry , curl Mary Jane . Their seeded player head range in colour from whitened to knock , although they are not as pinkish or as showy as the gulf muhlies . Seep muhlies are more notable for the curl up mass of basal sheaths that give it its puffball show . This muhly is a skillful candidate for gardens in more northern climates , as it is cold hardy down to Zone 5 .

I have found muhly weed to be dependable and handsome garden additions . They can take abuse and neglect and still hold their own as attractive border industrial plant . In contrast to more fond grasses and herbaceous plants , the muhlies I ’ve profiled here bind their architectural time value through the wintertime and come back strong every spring with fresh green growth and then again in the fall with their typical seed head .

Karen Beaty is a horticulturalist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin , Texas .

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