LEYMUS. Widespread, temperate regions. Mostly perennial grasses with erect leafy stems, usually colonizing by means of underground rhizomes. The flower spikes are narrowly cylindrical and often borne well above the foliage. Their chief ornamental features are their bold texture and often bright stem and leaf colors. They also have considerable value in erosion control. The following are tough and easily grown. Sun or light shade, most soils, moderate to occasional watering when established. These should be hardy to 10^oF. or less.

arenarius. Blue lyme grass. A robust European species, making broad thickets. It has stout stems, rising 1-3’,  and relatively broad, tapered leaves. The flower spikes add little to the plant’s appearance, particularly as they age. In the selection ‘Glaucus’, both leaves and stems are a bright, almost chalky blue. ‘Findhorn’ is a slightly less rampant spreader, with distinctly greyer leaves.

condensatus ‘Canyon Prince’. Giant wild rye. Typical forms of the species can grow as much as 8’ tall, though they make dense clumps, much narrower than those of some other species. This selection is of more manageable scale, though still in the 3-4’ range. The leaves are stout, up to 1’ long and bluish green in color. Flower clusters, when produced, are elevated well above the foliage.

mollis. This species grows 2’ or more tall, with rather stout stems. Both the stems and the narrow, hard-pointed 8-12" leaves in our selection are bright, chalky blue most of the year. It has yet to bloom for us. Evergreen to deciduous, depending on winter temperatures.

triticoides ‘Grey Dawn’. About the same size as the last and often forming extensive colonies. However, all parts of the plant are more slender and delicate in appearance. In this selection, made near the old Wintergreen Nursery site, the leaves have a beautiful silvery cast in summer. Flowering stems are slender and wandlike, holding the flower clusters well above the foliage.