Undaunted Red Muhly Grass

Depending on the variety, ornamental grasses are at their best twice a year – in spring and in late summer to fall. This fits with the way we divide these grasses into ‘cool season’ and ‘warm season’. Some grasses spring into growth with the first hint of warmer weather, and these are soon fresh, bright and lush, flowering early in the season. The warm season grasses wait out the uncertain spring weather, and don’t wake up until reliable hotter days are here. While the cool season grasses often look untidy and sad by summer, needing a trim and fading from interest, the warm season grasses only get better and better. They flower in late summer and fall, just when the rest of the garden is looking tired. They give a lift and a freshness that lingers on, extending the garden season, and with the Undaunted® Ruby Muhly Grass that lift is richly colored, a glowing cloud of dusky dark pink that glows in the low sun. Two or even three feet tall by then, the softness of its look hides how tough this grass is. It’s easy to be highly drought resistant and revel in dry ground when you grew up on the Prairies, as this native grass did. Perfect in the foreground of beds to hide the declining plants behind, or among boulders and on slopes for a modern, xeric look, you will love this grass for its ease of growth and the beauty it brings to your garden. Oh, did we forget that it’s hardy even in zone 5, unlike other red-flowering grasses of this type? Well it is.

Growing the Undaunted® Ruby Muhly Grass

Size and Appearance

The Undaunted® Ruby Muhly Grass is a perennial, long-lived warm season grass that grows into a mound of fine foliage that is between 18 and 24 inches tall and wide. The many narrow leaves rise from the base making a fountain-like mound like a cloud of soft green . Although the leaves are very thin, this grass doesn’t have a hard, spiky look. It forms a dense clump, without spreading and taking over your beds, and unlike many other clump-forming grasses it doesn’t die out in the middle. It is long-lived and once established it won’t disappear in a couple of years, as some other grasses can annoyingly do.

By late summer you will see the many tall flowering spikes rising above the leaves and approaching 3 feet tall. At first silvery-green, these soon turn a beautiful dusky dark reddish pink, and the color floats like a crimson cloud above your beds in a magical way, especially when the late fall sun shines through it.

Using the Undaunted® Ruby Muhly Grass in Your Garden

This beautiful grass is perfect for all those hot, dry spots in your garden, such as sunny slopes and among rocks. It’s essential when creating a water-wise, or xeric garden, but it also grows in regular beds, where it blends in with both shrubs and perennial flowers. Grow it with other native plants like asters, or with shrubs like hydrangeas. Use it to draw attention away from plants that bloomed early and are now looking past their best. As a single plant, or mass planted, it’s a unique addition you will love. For group plantings space each plant 12 to 18 inches from its neighbors. Of course, being a native plant, it’s an excellent choice for a natural garden, especially one in a hot, dry spot.

Hardiness

The Undaunted® Ruby Muhly Grass is much more cold-resistant than other grasses of this type, and more cold resistant than the wild species it came from. It is reliably hardy in zone 5 and all the way into the heat of zones 9 and 10.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Grow this grass in full sun. In shadier spots it will be floppy and bloom badly. It grows in any soil, but it must be well-drained, and sandy, drier soils are preferred. Avoid wet areas, especially through winter, as dormant plants are more sensitive to dampness. This grass is very tolerant of alkaline soil conditions. Established plants are extremely drought resistant.

Maintenance and Pruning

The Undaunted® Ruby Muhly Grass will take about 3 growing seasons to reach its potential, and during the first season some extra watering during dry periods is valuable. After that this truly is an easy grass, needing no attention even during the hottest and driest parts of the year, and living undisturbed for many years, keeping to a dense, non-invasive clump. Pests or diseases are rare, and it is entirely resistant to deer. The leaves are often perennial, and in time form a tangled mass. You can cut this plant back to the base in early spring, every year or two, to keep it neater, once it has been growing for a few years – leave young grasses untrimmed until they are well-established.

History and Origin of the Undaunted® Ruby Muhly Grass

Seep Muhly, Muhlenbergia reverchonii, is a perennial grass native to Oklahoma and Texas. It grows on rocky slopes and outcrops, and in seeps, which are areas where water periodically flows, with dry periods in between. In 2003 garden designers and plant experts Scott Ogden and Lauren Springer Ogden, were exploring in north-central Texas when they found a very sturdy population of this grass growing, which was about to be ploughed under for crops. Among the plants they found one that had striking red-pink flowers, instead of the usual brownish flower color. Colorado State University and Denver Botanic Gardens have a joint venture for new plants, called Plant Select®. The new grass was officially named ‘PUND01S’, and released with the registered trademark of Undaunted®, a mark registered to the University’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.

Buying the Undaunted® Ruby Muhly Grass at the Tree Center

You are going to love this beautiful grass, especially when it throws it’s ruby-red halo across your garden beds. It’s outstanding beauty, combined with cold-resistance and drought-resistance, make it a ‘must have’. But order now, because it’s on everyone else’s list too, and our limited supply will go very quickly.