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Companion Plants

Fiber Optic grass companions

Janine Starykowicz

19 years ago

I have a quart container of fiber optic grass, planning on putting it in a 10" pot with two or three other plants. I've found some that look good with the FOG, but they seem to clash with each other! Here's what I have so far:

New Look celosia (dark red plumes, bronze foliage)

Purple oxalis

Black sweet potato vine

Tri-color sweet potato vine

I'm going for an "exotic" look.

I'd also like a trailing, blooming plant underneath, but haven't seen anything different enough. Maybe white lobelia, but that's all I can come up with. Any suggestions for small, dark flowers?

Is 10" big enough? I'll bring the pot in for the winter because the FOG isn't frost hardy.

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Comments (4)

kanders
19 years ago
I don't know a lot about FOG - but I do have a couple plants of them... I have them in the center of an oval planter with coleous planted one the ends ... it looks pretty good (I think anyway)... But I don't know a lot about FOG... my S/O brought some home for me because it was a cool looking plant. What do I do with it now?? Or I should say for the winter etc...

thanks,
kanders
kathyk@gwtc.net
Janine Starykowicz
Original Author
19 years ago
Kanders it isn't hardy by me, not sure what its hardiness zone is. I ended up using the celosia behind it, black (now fading) sweet potato vine next to it, and orange impatiens in front. I'm going to try keeping it in the semi-heated basement, see what survives.
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I've been tempted by 'Fibre Optic Grass' (Scirpus cernuus) as well, but it's only hardy to zone 8, according to some sources, and I've just discovered that it's a bog plant. (I don't have a bog garden...yet!) Sources also say it reseeds freely, and there are several vendors for FOG seeds on the web. You might be interested in the thread below, Gil. It sounds like it can also be overwintered indoors. Fiber Optic grass companions thread: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/complants/msg0515342320655.html?4 I second Glen's vote for bulbous oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius var. bulbosum 'Variegatum'). It's a beauty, and extremely well-behaved. It always causes me a little anxiety each spring because it starts growing just a little later than my other grasses. Some sources say it goes dormant in the summer but it stays around all season in my garden...with a little shade and adequate moisture. Another one that causes anxiety, because it's not supposed to be hardy in zone 3, is Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' (Golden Variegated Hakonechloa). Mine has not become a large clump because I don't have it in a great situation, but it comes back faithfully each year. I just remembered another website that's a great source of information about grasses (and other perennials) that are grown in a zone 3 (?) Regina garden. This is a great site to browse through. Here is a link that might be useful: Grasses and sedges in our garden
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Just wondering how your indoor plant of fiber optic faired this winter, stephju? I live in zone 3 and I brought mine in and kept the pots in a water bath, low light, 60 degree basement. They did ok for several months but didn't stay alive until April. I read somewhere that they can be treated as a houseplant if kept wet, even in lower light, getting larger every year. I suppose my light was TOO low. I don't have the option of wintering outside. I tried direct sowing (what I think was) seed from the plant tips into my garden in the fall, as of today I haven't seen anything sprout. Anyone out there with any seeding experience with this plant?
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Josh
19 years ago
Fiber Optic - Scirpus cernuus - can be grown in boggy ground or actually with pot sitting in a few inches of water. In fact I bought mine from an aquatic plants display. Does not seem to mind a sunny window inside for winter, although mine now stays outside after I split it up and found that it does well in or out here in Zone 8.

Looks good with Equisetum or Dwarf Cyperus although I keep each in separate pots sunk in larger container. Sits in deep saucer I try to keep filled with water. I was afraid the Horsetail would crowd the other two out (I think that's why Equisetum is called Horsetail...often acts like one!).

You two must be growing in ordinary moist soil..not wet? I have Ipomea Blackie and lots of Coleus...may try growing the Fibre Optic in a container with just average moisture...thanks for the ideas. josh
Xtal in Central TX, zone 8b
18 years ago
Hello Janine,

I know that this is a note that it rather late to your posting, but I'm wondering if per chance if you have any oxalis left to trade? I'm sure that I have something here that you might like. I like zone 8b.

Xtal

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