Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'
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Tried and True Recommended by 4 Professionals
Common Name: blue fescue
Type: Ornamental grass
Family: Poaceae
Zone: 4 to 8
Height: 0.75 to 1 feet
Spread: 0.5 to 0.75 feet
Bloom Time: June to July
Bloom Color: Green
Bloom Description: Green with purple tinge
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: High
Flowers: Flowers not Showy
Leaves: Colorful
Tolerates: Dry Soil, Shallow, Rocky Soil, Drought, Air Pollution, Black Walnuts
Uses: Groundcover

Culture

Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates light shade, but best foliage color is in full sun. Tolerant of drought and poor soils. Intolerant of wet, poorly-drained soils. Foliage is semi-evergreen. In St. Louis, the foliage may retain good color in mild winters, but clumps will show considerable browning in harsh winters. Clumps tend to die out in the center and need to be divided and replanted or replaced every 2-3 years. Cut back foliage in early spring to 3-4" to tidy clumps and to facilitate emergence of the new leaf blades. Many gardeners shear off flower stems after bloom. Clumps may decline in hot, humid summers, and should be cut back if such occurs. Mass densely (plant 8-10" apart) when planting as a ground cover since clumps do not spread outward very much and weeds may grow between clumps if spaced too far apart. This cultivar does not reliably come true from seed.

Noteworthy Characteristics

'Elijah Blue' is a short-lived, low-growing, semi-evergreen, clump-forming ornamental grass noted for its glaucous, finely-textured, silver-blue foliage. Foliage forms a dome-shaped, porcupine-like tuft of erect to arching, needle-like blades radiating upward and outward to a height of 6-8" (flower stems typically bring total clump height to 10-14"). Light green flowers with a purple tinge appear in terminal panicles atop stems rising above the foliage in late spring to early summer, but are not very showy. Flowers give way to buffy seed heads which some gardeners find attractive but others find detractive to both the symmetry of the plant and the foliage color. 'Elijah Blue' is one of the best of the blue fescues. Synonymous with Festuca ovina 'Elijah Blue' and Festuca ovina var. glauca 'Elijah Blue'.

Problems

Plants are short-lived and require frequent division. Plant foliage may decline considerably in hot, humid summers.

Garden Uses

Excellent as ground cover, border front or rock garden accent, edging plant or containers.

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