Quaking Grass, Briza media, 3 plants in 7 cm square pots
Quaking Grass, Briza media, is one of our few native grasses that when found growing in the flower border is welcomed rather than being regarded as a weed. It is indeed one of the most beautiful of the grasses for deliberately adding to the flower border. There are over 20 green-yellow florets on each plant, often tinged with purple, that dangle on very thin stalks and dance around wildly in the slightest breeze, catching the light like raindrops.
Uses
As well as making a perfect foil for colourful flowers in the garden border, they dry very well and are excellent in flower arrangements, especially for dark corners as the nodding spikelets reflect the light like tiny mirrors, and go well with a vase of colourful flowers.
Special value to wildlife
Quaking Grass is a great plant for encouraging visits from birdlife, its prominent seeds being eaten by Greenfinches, Yellowhammers, Linnets, House Sparrows, and other seed-eating birds.
For butterfly enthusiasts, it is a foodplant of the Meadow Brown Butterfly.
Natural habitat and cultivation
Quaking Grass prefers well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade. It is perennial, the leaves dying down in winter, new ones arising in spring and will also self-set seed if there is some bare ground available.
Identification of wild grasses
Many people find wild grasses difficult to identify. This is one of a collection of labelled grasses we grow in pots so that you can get to know them well enough to be able put a name to them when you meet them in the field, even before they come into flower.
Your Purchase
You are purchasing three well-rooted plants in 7 cm square pots (or 9 cm if this option is selected). These have been grown by ourselves in our nursery in Cupar, Fife, Scotland, from seed obtained from native British plants, using peat-free compost, without herbicides, pesticides, or artificial heat. As they are perennial they may be purchased at any time of year.
Please note that our plants are sold purely for their biodiversity, educational and aesthetic value and should not be consumed unless you are absolutely certain of their safety.
Please note also that our nursery is located at Cupar, our St Andrews address being for correspondence only.
Ladyburn Plant Nursery has been registered by the Scottish Government as a Professional Operator who is authorised to issue plant passports, now required for internet sales of all plants including native plants grown and sold within the UK (not just those for those shipped abroad, as previously). Registration Number GB-S 03473.