Stipa gigantea

Stipa gigantea, the giant feather grass, is a striking evergreen, clump-forming ornamental grass prized for its tall, airy, oat-like golden flower heads in early to midsummer. In Irish gardens it thrives in full sun and well-drained, moderately fertile soil, forming an architectural fountain of narrow green leaves with flowering stems rising to around 2–2.5m and a clump spread of about 1m. Drought tolerant once established, it adds movement and light to borders and gravel plantings, works beautifully as a focal point or backdrop, and its seedheads can be left for structure before trimming old stems in late winter.

To help give a clear sense of scale, the stone wall shown in our photos measures approximately 265cm in height. We also use familiar garden tools as visual references: a digging fork (110cm tall) and a hand fork (30cm tall). These are included purely as size guides to help you better judge proportions when viewing the images.

Position: Full sun

Rate of Growth: Moderate

Soil: Well-drained, moderately fertile soil

Hardiness: Fully hardy

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Plant at a Glance