Miscanthus has always been one of my favourite ornamental grasses. It is graceful, reliable, and adds structure to the garden throughout the seasons.
I noticed one of my smaller Pennisetum grasses looking a little ‘fuller’ than usual. On closer inspection, I discovered Miscanthus seedlings popping through. I knew exactly what they were the moment I saw the unmistakable leaf with its central white stripe.
Unlike the other grasses I grow, which self-seed freely around the garden, Miscanthus rarely does. So when a rogue seedling suddenly appears, it feels like a gift. After carefully lifting each seedling to retain as many roots as I could, I potted them up individually.
I remember reading an article by John Summerfield from the Hardy Plant Society. In it, he expressed that he finds seedlings very occasionally, but when he does spot one, he pots it up and grows it on to study its performance. In fact, he liked a couple of his “volunteer” cultivars so much that he eventually named them. That little nugget of knowledge stuck with me.
Now that I’ve found my own, I am incredibly curious to see how these seedlings develop. What will they inherit from the parent plant, and will one or two offer something entirely new?
