The flowers are followed by small, brown seeds that will self-sow if left on the plant. Simply said, it is not invasive.Įach stem is topped with a plume of green or brown flowers that can be eight inches long, typically lasting from early summer through the fall. Unlike other types of grass, King Tut grass doesn’t have rhizomes, making it easy to control and contain. It’s also known as Cyperus Papyrus and grows in clumps that reach up to four feet tall. Named after the famous Egyptian pharaoh, King Tut grass is a member of the Poaceae family. King Tut grass is a striking and hardy plant known for its vibrant blades of green and tall, lush stalks. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment.King tut grass: Final Thoughts What You Need to Know About King Tut Grass This entry was posted in Flowers and tagged cosmos, King Tut, Papyrus, spotted spurge. The name Rose Bon Bon notwithstanding, they do NOT look like roses. They’re still cheery, just like regular cosmos, frilly and cheery in this case. Rose Bon Bon flowers, all of them soft pink, are beautiful. As a cosmos fan, I figured I’d try Rose Bon Bon in spite of the fact that the flowers are double, which means they have multiple rows of petals. The flowers are simple and sit singly atop tall stalks of sparse but feathery leaves. What I’ve always liked about cosmos is their lack of pretension. That said, I’m quite enthralled with some cosmos I planted this spring that have been bred to look not very cosmo-ish. I’m not usually a big fan of flower breeders’ new and wondrous creations, such as blue roses or tulips that look like peonies or peonies that look like tulips. It’s important not to dawdle in removing the plants because only a couple of weeks of growth are needed before young plants are old enough to flower and make seeds. Left alone, tiny flowers in each leaf axil give rise to tiny seeds that germinate through summer or, when weather warms, next year. Spotted spurge is a summer annual that thrives in heat. The stems don’t form roots where they touch ground, as many other plants do, so grabbing the center of the clump gets rid of a square foot of weeds in one fell swoop. My affection for this plant comes from the ease with which it is removed. Whenever I see the flattened stems, I reach down and pull it out, roots and all. I can’t help but respect a plant that can keep showing up under such adverse conditions. Not that it doesn’t also turn up following recent rains and in the irrigated, planted beds. Even during the dry weeks of last June, spotted spurge kept sprouting. The amazing thing about this plant is the way it keeps sprouting in the paths. Mostly, I see spotted spurge growing in the wood-chip mulched paths in my vegetable garden. In sun, no part of the plant rises more than a half an inch above ground level. The definitive identifier for this weed is the way the stems spread out, flat, on top of the ground. Spotted spurge has mouse-ear sized leaves, each with a reddish blotch along part of its main vein, and the leaves line up in a very orderly manner along the stems. Over the past few weeks, spotted spurge ( Euphorbia maculate) has become one such weed. A Nice WeedĪ few weeds garner my respect and my affection. Although I tossed them in the compost pile, I could have made them into sandals, a boat, paper, or any one of the other papyrus products of ancient Egypt. King Tut grows very rapidly, so this spring I divided the one King Tut plant into two and potted each one up separately. It’s just that consistently moist soil is needed, which means close attention to watering or standing in a water-filled saucer. Not that King Tut demands water around his ankles. All the plant needs is a deep saucer in which the pot can sit, with the saucer kept full of water. King Tut (and umbrella plant) are very easy to grow because they love water up around their ankles. Many, if not most, problems with plants in general can be attributed to too much or too little water. A houseplant relative of papyrus, Cyperus alternifolius, is commonly called umbrella plant. The base of the plant is a clump of grassy leaves from which rise tall, leafless stalks which are capped by grassy-leaved mopheads looking something like the ribs of an umbrella. All papyrus have a very distinctive and attractive appearance. In contrast to regular papyrus, which grows 5 to 9 feet tall, King Tut’s claim to fame is that he’s a dwarf, billed as rising 4 to 6 feet high. There he clung to life and, with warm, sunny weather, got growing again this past spring. But rather than let the King die in winter, I was so smitten by him that in autumn I moved him in his pot indoors to a sunny window. Papyrus doesn’t tolerate temperatures down to freezing, so this far north King Tut is billed as an annual. I’ll cut to the chase: This particular King Tut is a variety of papyrus ( Cyperus papyrus) that I planted a year ago in spring. King Tut is alive and well, very well in fact.
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