River Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)
When most plants have succumbed to gravity and fallen into the frozen February mud the river oats still stand tall waving their seeds in the breeze. I love to walk through a river bottom of river oats that remind me of a waving sea as they bend in the breeze and make a rustling sound as I push my way through. River Oats are also know as Sea Oats or the very descriptive Fish-on-a-string. They also make great cut plants for your winter arrangements.
However, a word of caution! River Oats will take over your entire yard if you let them, they are very aggressive when they are happy. You will probably have regrets if you plant this plant in your flower bed of your small urban lot. The plant will spread from a single plant to a large clump within a year and start growing out of your compost pile and anywhere else the seeds fall.
A great use for river oats is in drainage ditches or honeysuckle choked stream banks. I have an intermittent stream/drainage ditch behind my yard that was formerly covered in bush honeysuckle, winter creeper, and Japanese hops. After removing these invasives I planted river oats and Elderberry to help revegetate the slope. In areas with frequent flooding it is important to get new plants established as quickly as possible after removing unwanted plants so that the soil will not wash away. River oats is perfect for holding down slopes because it establishes quickly and has a strong root system. It tolerates wet soils and periodic flooding as well as hot dry summers as long as it has some shade. River Oats also grows densely enough to crowd out those pesky honeysuckle resprouts.
Another alternative to river oats is Beakgrain. Beakgrain also requires shade and is flood tolerant. Beakgrain is slightly less aggressive and shorter with the same arching habit. Beakgrain is also more difficult to find at the garden center. These two plants are prime examples of putting the right plant in the right place. The right place for River Oats is a moist woodland river bottom area where it is free to spread.
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