Here are some of the types of grass (family Poaceae) I’m trying to grow around our yard.
Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis) is my current favorite — I just like the way it looks:
I’ve had pretty good luck growing it from seed. I’ve contributed a few plants grown from seed to the local school. It looks like at least one of the skippers hosted by it — Lindsey’s skipper (Hesperia lindseyi) — has a range overlapping our area; I’ll hope to see one someday.
I first tried growing it from a purchased plant, but a bunny nibbled it to the ground, and it never bounced back.
USDA fact sheet (archive): “Idaho fescue is a native, perennial, cool-season grass… initiates growth in March through April and matures in mid to late summer. With adequate moisture, Idaho fescue will produce a moderate amount of regrowth following seed maturity. Late fall plantings are most successful. Plant early in the spring if fall planting is not possible. Seeded stands require 2 to 3 years to establish, but are very competitive once established.”
The word “festuca” is a Latin word meaning “stem” or “stalk” first used by Pliny the Elder to describe a weed.
Wikipedia, Festuca
My newest addition is red fescue (Festuca rubra):
I’ve also seeded the area around the plant. With the harsh hot weather (and birds), I’m not sure how many seeds will survive, but I think I’ve spied a few sprouts.
I put another plant in the same spot, but it got obliterated when AT&T was digging for a forced upgrade to fiber.
It looks like we’re in the range for a couple of the skippers (family Hesperiidae) supported by it: sachem skipper (Atalopedes campestris) and umber skipper (Poanes melane) (aka Lon melane).
USDA plant guide (archive): “Red fescue is a perennial, cool season grass… long-lived and spreads primarily by rhizomes. It is considered ‘weedy’ by some and not so by others.”
In a shadier area, I’ve got another fescue, California fescue (Festuca californica). Calscape says that it can take partial shade. This spot is more like full shade, but at least it’s happy enough to be blooming now.
USDA fact sheet (archive): “California fescue is a native, cool
season perennial bunchgrass that is intermediate to long lived.”
I think the foothill needlegrass (Stipa lepida) is a bit less happy:
I yanked out some goldenrod plants that were right on top of/in it so perhaps it’ll cheer up a bit.
Stipa lepida on plantid.net: “Foothill Needle Grass is shorter and more delicate than its big brother – Purple Needle Grass. It still has long awns, but they’re shorter than your pinkie.”
(Seems like Jepson prefers “Stipa” over “Nasella”? https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=45641.)
We also have the state grass of California, purple needlegrass (Stipa pulchra). It’s looking even unhappier despite having less competition:
USDA plant guide (archive): “Purple needlegrass is a densely tufted, long-lived, upright perennial bunchgrass with conspicuously long awns… Plants become dormant after seed production and begin growth again with fall rain. Plants will also regreen after summer dormancy even without the presence of precipitation, is believed to be in response to shortening day lengths.”
Etymology of “Stipa”:
Feathergrass, “Name from the Greek stupe, ‘tow,’ in allusion to the flaxen appearance of the feathery awns of the original species” (Fernald 1950)
https://www.mobot.org/mobot/latindict/keyDetail.aspx?keyWord=stipa
And “pulchra” means beautiful, apparently (per Wikipedia), corresponding to the English word “pulchritude”: “You’re looking very pulchritudinous today.”
Working in the school gardens, I’ve personally experienced getting poked by the pointy seeds that I guess give the genus its common name. I’m still a fan though I know some of the other volunteers have been stabbed one too many times to maintain their love.
I’m hoping this is Junegrass (Koeleria macrantha):
This was grown from seed from grass that grew where I planted some Junegrass seed. If it’s not Junegrass, I’ve got a lot of something else starting to grow all over the place.
Last year, I watched a wasp saw off chunks from the parent plant. You can see the seed heads in that video. Is it Junegrass? If it is, maybe we’ll see some of the Columbian skippers (Hesperia columbia) that use it as a host plant.
I was going to mention a few others:
But I see that none of them is in the Poaceae family. All are at least in the same order as grasses though: Poales.
(I release theses photos into the public domain. These works are marked with CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/.)
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