Festuca glauca (Blue Fescue)

The Blue Fescue is an absolutely lovely little grass for really sunny spots on well drained soil. It forms clumps of smokey blue fine leaves that in summer are surmounted by grassy flower plumes. 'Festuca' is Latin for 'stem' and that accurately describes the slightly hedgehog (of the subfamily Erinaceinae) look of the low growing clumps, usually no more than 20cm in height. Trim back in spring if needed to tidy things up and split every two or three years to avoid the clumps developing hollow middles. Don't over water and don’t restrict yourself to just nocturnal viewing!

As the name would suggest, it's blue. Really blue. Tufts to about 1ft x 1ft. Good for formal planting. Like most grasses, not evergreen so dies down in the winter. Cut to close to ground level before spring so the new year's growth doesn't have last year's dead stuff spoiling the look.

The flowers are not that showy - green with purple bits in spring. If you like the blue moundy look, you could always cut the flowers off...

They are comparatively short lived grasses and will last around 3-5 years. They have a similar life span to Lavenders.