Meadow of Flowing Grasses and Summer Blooming Perennials

This dreamy vignette is very simple, but incredibly beautiful. It exudes the magic of a summer's day—I could float away on those waves of Mexican feather grass! If you like that blowzy wild look, this combo is fairly simple to recreate in a full sun garden with well-drained soil. A word of warning: the Mexican feather grass and the Verbena bonariensis can be enthusiastic self-seeders. Though easy to remove when young, they can get a bit out of hand if you don't stay on top of them, so plan for some monitoring and maintenance.

A couple of notes about substitutions: we've specified the orange coneflower, Echinacea Sombrero® Hot Coral, though another orange would work equally well. The orange and purple creates an energetic scene with its strong contrast. A softer-colored coneflower, such as E. 'Green Envy' or E. 'Evan Saul', would cool the overall scene down and create a more romantic, gauzy effect. You might also want to keep your eye out for the newly introduced Verbena b. 'Lollipop', it's a shorter, more compact variety.


Growing Conditions

Zone: 7, 8, 9
Exposure: Afternoon Sun, Full Sun, Reflected Heat
Water Needs: Drought-tolerant, Low, Occasional

Design Considerations

Style: Cottage, Mediterranean, Naturalistic, Wildlife Friendly, Waterwise
Features: Fabulous Foliage, Flower Fest, Warm Colors
Focus: Hellstrip / Parking Strip, Native and Habitat
Seasons of Interest: Late Spring / Early Summer, Summer, Late Summer / Early Fall, Fall

Care and Maintenance


Maintenance Level: medium



Plants In this Combo