Princess Caroline Grass (Pennisetum purpureum ‘Princess Caroline’) is a popular ornamental grass known for its vibrant, rich foliage. It offers a striking visual element with its unique color and graceful form. This plant provides consistent beauty and texture throughout the growing season.
Understanding Princess Caroline Grass
Princess Caroline Grass is a cultivar of Pennisetum purpureum, commonly known as Napier Grass or Elephant Grass. It is recognized for its broad, arching leaves that display a deep burgundy to purple coloration, intensifying as summer progresses. The foliage maintains a fine, delicate texture, creating a shapely, mounding form.
This ornamental grass typically reaches a height of 3 to 4 feet with a spread of 4 to 5 feet. It is a warm-season tender perennial, hardy in USDA Zones 7b to 10b, but is often grown as an annual in colder climates where frost occurs. While it can produce flower spikelets in frost-free regions, its primary ornamental value comes from its foliage.
Cultivating Princess Caroline Grass
Princess Caroline Grass thrives in full sun, requiring at least six hours of direct sunlight daily for optimal color and growth. It adapts well to a variety of soil types, but well-drained soil is important to prevent root issues. The ideal soil pH ranges from 5.5 to 7.5, and enriching the soil with organic matter can improve its structure and fertility.
When planting, ensure adequate spacing for its mature size, typically around 30 inches apart for mass plantings. Water deeply immediately after planting to establish its root system. Once established, Princess Caroline Grass is drought-tolerant, but benefits from regular watering during extended dry periods to maintain vigor. Overwatering or standing water can be detrimental. Fertilization can be applied in early spring using a balanced fertilizer to encourage robust growth and rich foliage color, but avoid excessive feeding, which can cause it to lose its compact form.
Landscape Uses and Design Ideas
Princess Caroline Grass offers versatility in landscape design due to its striking color and graceful form. Its mounding habit and arching stems make it an excellent choice for use as a specimen plant, providing a strong focal point in garden beds. It performs well in containers and pots, where its dramatic foliage can create an eye-catching display on patios or decks.
This grass is also effective when used in mass plantings or as a border plant, creating a continuous sweep of deep purple texture. Its fine texture and rich color provide appealing contrast when paired with plants that have brighter flowers or different foliage shapes. Companion plants with similar light and water needs, such as coneflowers, phlox, salvia, or sedum, can create harmonious combinations in sunny borders. For a layered look, consider planting it with taller shrubs or using shorter annuals like alyssum or petunias around its base.
Maintenance and Winter Care
Maintaining Princess Caroline Grass involves routine tasks. Pruning is best done in late winter or early spring, before new growth emerges. Cut the foliage back to the ground to encourage fresh, healthy shoots for the growing season.
Division can rejuvenate older, overgrown clumps or be used for propagation, typically performed in spring as new growth begins. Princess Caroline Grass resists common pests and diseases, including deer, and is resilient to heat and humidity. In colder climates where it is grown as a perennial, the plant will die back to the crown in winter and regrow in spring. For northern areas, a thick layer of dry winter mulch can provide additional protection, though many gardeners treat it as an annual and replace it each spring.