Deer-resistant and easy to grow, Ornamental Grasses add lovely texture, color and billowing movement to garden beds and containers. Their blooms are the hallmark of late summer and fall, and are wonderful additions to late-season bouquets. And among them, Savannah Ruby Grass (Melinus nerviglumis) is a true gem!

This gorgeous grass is a tidy low clump of silvery blue-green, fine foliage for the first part of the season, but in midsummer it comes alive with a fountain of shimmering, feathery, deep mauve plumes that fade to pink and then buff! The color combo of the foliage and flowers is spectacular in a late summer landscape. In fall the foliage is flushed with purple-red.

Imagine this lovely grass swaying in a warm breeze, the setting sun lighting up the pink plumes as it moves toward the horizon. Sunset nirvana!

Start Seeds Indoors, in Pots

As with all of the Ornamental Grasses for which we offer seeds, Savannah Ruby Grass seeds can be direct-sown in the garden after the last spring frost, but to give them a head start and prevent them from being mistaken for weeds, we like to start the seeds indoors under grow lights, six to eight weeks earlier.

The seeds are very small, so handle them carefully, as a sneeze can send them flying! Sow them in small, loose clusters in individual pots in sterile, fine-textured seed-starting soil. Cover the pots with plastic wrap until the seeds sprout. Then keep the soil moist as they grow. Start half-strength fertilizing a couple of weeks after the seedlings emerge and transplant into larger pots as needed.

Close to your last frost date, slowly start introducing the seedlings to the outdoors, a few more hours each day, and then transplant them out when all danger of frost has passed.

This lovely grass is wonderful in large drifts--sow more than you think you'll need!