Description
Perennial Quaking Grass (Briza media)
Briza media
Perfect for pots, great for floristry and drying but above all a ‘show garden worthy’ plant!
Easy to grow, great for both the garden and containers.
A more delicate and perennial version of our favourite foliage filler. Discovered at the ‘Chelsea flower show’ a few years ago, I knew I just had to get the seeds for you!
This perennial version will create an almost evergreen plant to fill your borders before delicate twinkly stems of seed pods appear in late Spring and early Summer.
As a perennial it takes longer to grow and establish which is why plants from the garden centre can be very expensive, growing your own is a great investment.
Grow both the annual and perennial varieties, they do different jobs:
Greater Quaking Grass (Briza maxima) grows quickly achieving its full size by April from an Autumn sowing (making it perfect for quick impact and weddings).
Perennial Quaking Grass (Briza media) takes 2 years to establish but once it gets going it will continue to bulk up creating a display worthy of a show garden! When I say it several of the gardens had them front and centre!
Perennial Quaking Grass will eventually achieve a maximum diameter of 50cm of ornamental grass with slender flowering stems shooting from the base to a height of 50-90cm. Perfect for floristry and bouquet work.
A trusty work horse of a plant that will just keep coming back better and better with practically no maintenance.
How to Grow:
Sow in either Autumn or Spring. You have plenty of seeds in your packet to try a bit of both.
Sow seeds onto the surface of moist compost, they are much smaller than the annual version, so after making sure they have good contact with the compost I will leave uncovered, the light will aid germination.
Plants also do very well in pots.
In the garden position them towards the front of your border, they don’t need staking.
Maintenance, in Spring, comb out any dead grass stems with your fingers and cut back any spent flowering stems to tidy. divide clumps every 3-5 years to retain vigour. For containers just check they have enough room at the start of the year so they don’t get congested.
For more detailed growing instructions join our ‘Grow-A-Long’ and for busy gardeners you can now plan ahead with our Autumn Jump Starter Handbook
Details:
Variety: Briza media
Type: Hardy perennial
Position: Full sun
Sow: Autumn (can be sown in Spring)
Germination: Up to 30 days
Height: 60cm taller when established
Harvest: May – June
Seeds per packet: counted by weight approx. 200 seeds
Cutting /Vase Life:
Harvest by cutting delicate stems once the droplets have formed. We rest our stems for a few hours in water, this is called conditioning.
May also be used as a dried flower, dry stems upside down for an indefinite vase life.
