Celebrating Grasses
February 23, 2010 
Today, more than ever, ornamental grasses are a favorite among designers and home gardeners alike. With countless shapes, sizes and colors now available, you can find an ornamental grass to fit virtually any application. And it’s this popularity that has led to an increase in the number of improved grass selections being brought to market.
One Australian company has made its focus offering improved grasses–or grass-like plants, to be precise–that are not only attractive but also extremely tough. These Australian grass-like, or strappy-leafed plants, were developed by Ozbreed after the company’s founder, Todd Layt, noticed a need for low-maintenance, drought-tolerant Australian natives that were more attractive than the common forms available at the time.
Layt focused his selection work on two genera: lomandra and dianella. He focused on them because these perennials had the look and feel of ornamental grasses yet had the added benefit of being extremely drought tolerant and also evergreen–even when temperatures drop below 20 degrees.
After almost a decade of work, the results were a group of lomandra and dianella that Ozbreed markets here in the United States as the Celebrated Plants. Today, the collection includes more than a dozen varieties of different shapes, sizes and colors–weeping to upright, small to large and bright green foliage to blue.
In all cases, these grasses boast a common attribute: extreme drought tolerance. These plants can survive on very little water once established. Most are able to survive on natural rainfall in nearly all climates short of deserts. And most varieties can tolerate full sun exposure to moderate shade. A couple will even flourish in boggy soils. These varieties have been used extensively throughout Australia for several years now. In recent years, they began to surface at governments, commercial and residential projects here in the U.S.
Last fall, Ozbreed introduced the next generation of lomandra selections to the Celebrated Plants collection: Lomandra ‘Katrinus Deluxe’ and lomandra ‘Katie Belles.’ Both selections share similar attributes with other Celebrated Plants selections, like extreme drought tolerance and cold hardiness. These new varieties, however, offer a bit extra.
‘Katrinus Deluxe’ is similar in habit to the popular lomandra ‘Breeze,’ only its foliage is twice the width and it is about 4 feet tall–or roughly 25 percent larger than ‘Breeze.’ This selection also has prominent inflorescence that provides more spring interest by comparison to other Lomandra longifolia selections.
Lomandra ‘Katie Belles’ is unique in that not only does it do well in drought conditions, but it also copes with periodic flooding, making it an excellent selection along retention ponds. Also, the bright yellow flowers of ‘Katie Belles’ are larger and more fragrant than any other lomandra selection on the market.
Currently, there are more than 50 licensed Celebrated Plants growers nationwide producing and selling 4-inch, 1-gallon and 3-gallon material. Liners are available through First Step Greenhouses and Bill Moore & Company. More information, including technical data, pictures and videos, can be found at Ozbreed.com.
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