Blue Grasses

Fescues

• The fescues (Festuca spp.) are prized for their blue foliage. These cool-season grasses thrive when divided in early spring and provided annual fertilization. Tufted fescue (F. amethystina) grows to 2 feet tall and thrives in sites with full sun and well-drained soil. Its foliage is fine and ranges from blue-green to blue-silver. It grows in clumps topped with thin, tufted purple stalks. Blue cultivars include "Superba," which grows to 1 foot tall and has bright, silvery-blue foliage. Blue fescue (F. glauca) grows to 10 inches tall in dense mounds of fine, upright, blue foliage. It prefers full sun and dry to well-draining soil. Blue cultivars include "Elijah Blue," which grows to 1 foot tall and has silvery-blue foliage; "Azure Blue," a 16-inch-tall, blue-gray variety; and "Blaufuchs," which has silvery foliage.

Elymus

• Grasses in the Elymus genus tend to grow in a coarse, spreading form. These cool-season grasses tolerate some warm temperatures and can thrive in wet to dry soil. Blue varieties include blue lyme grass (E. arenarius), which grows from 3 to 4 feet tall. Blue lyme grass has flat, metallic blue foliage and produces tall, blue-green inflorescences that mature to beige. Giant blue wild rye (E. racemosa) grows to 4 feet tall and spreads quickly with root-like rhizomes. It also has flat, blue fronds. Both species grow best in full sun to lightly shaded exposures.

Switchgrass

• Grasses and cultivars in the switchgrass (Panicum spp.) genus has blue-toned foliage. Switchgrass (P. virgatum) grows up to 6 feet tall and grows in clumps of dense, upright foliage. It prefers sun to partial shade and moist to dry soils. Switchgrass has blue-green summer foliage that turns red in autumn. Blue cultivars include "Prairie Sky" and "Dallas Blues," which grows in thick clumps of ascending blue foliage; and "Heavy Metal," which rises to 5 feet and has stiffly upright, steel-blue foliage.

Other Species

• A few other species of grass have blue coloration. These include blue oats grass (Helictotrichor sempervirens), a 2-½-foot-tall grass that grows in dense clumps of blue-silver foliage. Blue oats grass grows best in rich, moist soil. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) grows from 4 to 7 feet tall in arching or upright clumps of blue-green foliage. Big bluestem turns bronze-to-red in autumn and grows best in full sun and well-drained soil. Large hair blue grass (Koeleria glauca) reaches heights of 2 feet. It has fine, blue-green foliage and grows in upright clumps. Large hair blue grass thrives in full sun and tolerates dry to moist soil.