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 10oF. 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.
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.