Pennisetum villosum

The Pennisetum villosum, also known as Feather Grass, is a most graceful perennial grass, well adapted to mild climates and relatively dry summers. It has a very flexible habit and seems to bend under the weight of its numerous fluffy, feathery, almost pure white flower spikes, resembling small rabbit tails. This lovely grass, highly appreciated in dried bouquets, is sometimes grown as an annual as it does not tolerate humid and cold winters well, especially in compact, clayey or waterlogged soils. Crowned with white flakes, it will form charming borders, wander in a flowery meadow, and slip into rockeries or summer compositions on the terrace.

The Pennisetum villosum, (synonym Cenchrus villosus, Pennisetum longistylum) is a plant of the grass family, native to the mountains of northeastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. This small, clump-forming grass, non-invasive by its roots, theoretically perfectly perennial, forms a tuft with a spreading habit, very flexible and very dense with fine dark green leaves that will reach a height of about 60-70cm (24-28in) in flower (40cm (16in) for the foliage), with a diameter of 50cm (20in) at maturity. The foliage, mostly deciduous, consists of multiple 15cm (6in) long, very thin, linear leaves. If the habit of the plant seems a bit disorderly before flowering, everything falls into place when its long, slender flowering stems emerge, usually in August. They elongate and gracefully bend, weighed down by a plump terminal inflorescence, composed of numerous ivory white spikelets, very bright. These feathery spikes remain decorative for a long time and turn a more brownish hue when ripe. The Pennisetum villosum self-seeds quite easily in light soil, allowing it to perpetuate itself despite the climatic vagaries that could make it disappear.

Moderately hardy - often reported to withstand -5°C (23°F) - this grass tolerates the cold quite well in well-drained soil; it has found a place in our large rockery, on a south-facing slope where it remarkably withstands our humid winters. Equally beautiful among the wildflowers of a flowery meadow as in a rockery, nestled in a pocket of soil between large stones, it also makes very beautiful borders, for example, dominating a sea of blue catmints, a carpet of aubrietas or wall bellflowers. Its inflorescences bring a lot of charm and lightness to bouquets. It thrives well in a large pot, alone or in the company of summer-flowering annuals (red flax, cosmos, love-in-a-mist), and tolerates summer drought in sufficiently deep soil.