Stipa tenuissima: wonderfully impressive with its evergreen base clump of 60cm (2ft) high leaves topped, in summer, with an array of flowering spikes, which turn from silvery green to gold and reach 2.5m (8ft).

A neat, compact, perennial grass, this has lots of close-packed, stiff, thread-like stems forming a strongly horizontal shape. In summer, plants are covered with masses of elegant pale feathery seed-heads which are held a little above the foliage. These can be cut and dried when first opened for use in winter arrangements indoors. Alternatively they make a useful winter food source for finches and other seed-eating birds.
Plants like a sunny well-drained spot and associate well with compact alstroemerias, rock plants and other grasses that enjoy similar growing conditions.

In winter, while your garden sleeps, these ornamental grasses add colour, texture, and movement. Backlighting grasses is another way to wake up landscapes. Ornamental grasses are easy to maintain, but the rewards are great when grasses grace your landscape.

Sowing:
Sow in Spring – Feb to April
Stipa germinates easily from seed sown in spring. Sow in well drained soil and keep at around 20ºC (68ºF). Germinates in about two wks
Once seedlings are large enough to handle, take a small clump of seedlings and put them all in a one-litre pot of gritty compost. They will form a bushy plant and be ready to go into the garden in summer.
Grow in sun and in well drained soil. Sow 6mm (¼in) deep in rows 30cm (12in) apart in well cultivated soil which has been raked to a fine tilth. Germination is occasionally slow, so be patient!
Thin out the seedlings to 23cm (9in) apart. Replant the seedlings that have been removed

Aftercare:
Feed in spring like ordinary perennials, with a single dressing of a general fertiliser. Even without an annual feed, most grasses will put on a first-rate show. The more nitrogen grasses receive the greener and further they'll grow. This spreading habit is fine in a field, but in a garden they may become too lush and the flower quality may suffer.

Division:
Once the plant is established, divide in March to April. It is relatively easy to propagate by division. Do this in spring, not autumn, as some newly divided plants may rot before they've developed a good root system.

Drying:
Pony Tails can be dried and make interesting focal or secondary flowers in dried arrangements. Cut the flower at the height of bloom and hang upside down in a cool, dark place to dry.

Plant Uses:
Architectural, Cottage/Informal Garden, Drought Resistant, Flower Arranging, Flowers Borders and Beds, Low Maintenance or Mediterranean.