From the Waterwise plant sale in May 2018.
Photos
Expectations:
I kept watering them to perk them up and probably over watered -- when I dug them up to move them, the soil was heavy and wet. Between transplant in late May and mid July 2018 when I moved them, they had put on quite a bit of root and were really hard to dig out.
The big rocks they were planted between were keeping them confined, and they weren't forming round shapes, which made them narrow and contributed to the flopping forward.
In summer 2021 I took out the three smallest clumps and put them in three bright red pots. I do love the look of the hot, bright red with the cool blue grasses.
Tightly potted in the red containers, I water and fertilize these frequently. I don't think I'll try them in the ground again.
Cool season grass. Don't cut back to ground, keep evergreen foliage and just comb out dead strands. Within just a few years the centers brown out and the clump needs to be lifted and divided.
'Siskiyou Blue' is supposed to be more floppy / graceful than the typical blue fescue. They like some shade, although the deep blue color may be more faded in shade.
Experiences:
Originally I put these in a line in between rocks along the bottom edge of the garage wall. The cool blue was nice with the dark red volcanic rock mulch. But they were not happy there. In deep shade most of the day, but in hot afternoon sun, they wilted and got too floppy.
 |
| May 9, 2020 |
The big rocks they were planted between were keeping them confined, and they weren't forming round shapes, which made them narrow and contributed to the flopping forward.
I moved them in summer 2018 to the shady dining room window garden where they had more room to form rounded mounds. I put them in an S-curved line of six.
They did well transplanted there, with three getting huge, and the other three smaller sized. All are right next to each other and they even alternate, big-small-big-small. Not sure why the sizes were so different.
In 2020 they were quite blue and the larger three sent up nice tawny flower stalks.
But the smaller three just didn't do anything and remained little blobs.
 |
| In pots in June 2023 |
The remaining in-ground clumps looked ok, but I could not get the brown dried fronds out after winter in 2021 -- you are supposed to rake out the dried leaves in spring. The blue color never developed and they looked like tired brown haystacks all summer.
In fall 2021 I did cut them back, not to the ground, but to rounded sheared clumps. I never got the browned strands out, they were too thick to rake out or pull out.
So the three remaining in the dining room window garden were finally removed in 2022.
The three in red pots were arranged in the garden and looked wonderful. They are incredibly big and root bound in the pots now but they thrive.
Later in 2023 I moved them over to the front door, lined up behind the green trough of geraniums. It made a nice composition and filled the space well.
 |
| August 2023 |