Home
Advanced Search Map Locator
View Settings
Nurseries Carrying this Plant Add Current Plant To List Edit Current Plant
Show all Photos

About Calscape Nurseries
California Garden Planner Bay Area Garden Planner (NEW) Planting Guide
Butterflies My Plant Lists
Contact Calscape
Tap map to see plants native to location
Order by Popularity Order by Common Name Order by Scientific Name Order by # of Butterflies Hosted
Show nursery cultivars Hide nursery cultivars
Show plants not in nurseries Hide plants not in nurseries
Grid view Text view
Loading....
Red Fescue
Festuca rubra
  
About Red Fescue (Festuca rubra) 50 Nurseries Carry This Plant Red Fescue (Festuca rubra) is one of many species of Festuca native to California. It is a cool-season species of bunch grass (summer dormant) that is found worldwide and can tolerate many habitats and climates.

It is a nutritious and palatable forage grass for domestic and wild animals. It is used as a mow-able turfgrass and as a groundcover and can be left completely unmowed for a lush prairie-like look. It spreads by rhizomes. There are three recognized subspecies, and many cultivars have been bred.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Grasses

Size
Size
1.3 - 2.6 ft tall

Form
Form
Upright, Fountain

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Fast, Moderate

Flower Color
Flower Color
Yellow

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 3 confirmed , 9 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Part Shade, Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Low

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to -10° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Medium

Soil Description
Soil Description
Tolerates many soil types. Soil PH: 5.6 - 6.9

Common uses
Common uses
Bank Stabilization, Butterfly Gardens, Deer Resistant, Groundcovers

Companion Plants
Companion Plants
It can be used with a wide variety of native plants in a meadow-like garden or as an accent among shrubs and subshrubs.

Maintenance
Maintenance
Does not need to be cut back but can be cut back in summer if desired

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: No treatment, except that freshly harvested seeds need 5 days stratification (Association of Official Seed Analysts 1981); or 1 to 2 months' dry storage for 1 to 2 months before sowing (Crocker and Barton 1957).

Sunset Zones
Sunset Zones?
1, 2, 3, 4*, 5*, 6*, 7*, 8, 9, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Dunes, meadows, openings in woodland or chaparral

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 5.5" - 137.1", Summer Precipitation: 0.17" - 3.99", Coldest Month: 10.8" - 56.0", Hottest Month: 34.1" - 78.2", Humidity: 0.01" - 28.20", Elevation: -12" - 14090"


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


Sign in to your Calscape Account X




Once signed in, you'll be able to access any previously saved plant lists or create new ones.

Email Address
Password

Sign In