Other Names:  Basket Grass, Lomandra

Group/Class:  Tuffy Plant Collection

Brand:  Dig Plant Co.

Description:

A tough and reliable, clump forming grass-like plant, featuring strappy, light green leaves that arch outward; showy yellow flower spikes are nicely fragrant; adaptable to dry sites as well as moist; great in borders or for soil retention

Ornamental Features

Katie Belles™ Mat Rush features showy spikes of fragrant yellow flowers rising above the foliage from late spring to early summer. Its attractive grassy leaves remain light green in color throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes

Katie Belles™ Mat Rush is an herbaceous evergreen perennial grass with a shapely form and gracefully arching stems. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Katie Belles™ Mat Rush is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Katie Belles™ Mat Rush will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It is an amazingly adaptable plant, tolerating both dry conditions and even some standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Katie Belles™ Mat Rush is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.