Big, bold and beautiful might describe the range of grasses that are commonly known as pampas grass. Most belong to the genus Cortaderia, originally described from Montevideo in Uruguay in 1827 as a species of Arundo. It was given the name pampas grass from the vast colonies that occur in central Argentina, but it is also native to Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and southern Brazil.
While few Cortaderia selloana fit comfortably in a small garden (though there are dwarf forms being developed that may yet prove themselves) that shouldn't stop a re-appraisal of some plants currently in cultivation and their use in modern gardens.
varies widely in its native ‘Pumila’. It takes its name from the Latin for dwarf, although once established, this is a cultivar that can end up with spectacular white plumes that reach more than two metres in height.
