Karl Foerster Grasses - Movement, Texture and Vertical Interest In The Garden - Peak Season - July 2026

I've written about my list of 'favorite plants'.  I started as a shade gardener on our current property which meant foliage gardening.  I've evolved in my tastes over the years and have come to appreciate a list of plants that work in our garden.  

My list (right now) looks something like this:  Ferns (Autumn, Ghost, Japanese Painted, Godzilla, etc), Flowering Perennials (Nepeta Cat's Pajamas and Chartreuse on the Loose), Foliage Perennials  (Alchemilla Lady's Mantle, Shredded Umbrella Plant), Groundcover (Ajuga and Carex) and Grasses (Hakonechloa, Seslaria Autumnalis, Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses).  

That last one - Karl Foerster Grasses - were some of my very first grasses planted here in Downers.  And, over the years, I've divided them and spread them around.  

They put on a really lovely show and are in particularly fine form in mid/late June.  I've written about "peak form" on Karl Foerster Grasses in June 2022 here.  

And, despite this post going up in early July, the photos and video before are from mid-June.  That's when these grasses hit 'peak season'.  

Here is a view of the grasses on the corner of our back patio.  

Below is a video showing what makes these special:  movement.  

The seedheads are almost PURPLE right now.  Lovely.

Something for [Fall 2026] is to divide the grasses to make a few more for 2027.