STIPA arundinacea

In summer this grass is streaked orange-brown and it then turns to orange brown all over in winter, when there may be less to catch your eye in the garden. The narrow, flat or inrolled leaves are dark green the rest of the year. It has a pleasing overall arching habit with interesting purple-green flower spikelets that hang down, almost touching the ground, from midsummer to early autumn. Don't be put off growing it if you have a heavy soil. Plants may need winter protection in colder gardens.