Search Utilities Plant Database Search Plant Name Detail Search Search by size, origins, details, cultural needs Website Search Search for any word Site Map Retail Locator Plant Listings PLANT TYPE PLANT GEOGRAPHY PLANT INDEX ALL PLANT LIST PLANT IMAGE INDEX PLANT INTROS SPECIALTY CROPS NEW  2023 PLANTS PRIME LIST   for JUNE  Weather Station

Products > Festuca californica 'Willit's Giant'   Festuca californica 'Willit's Giant' - Giant California Fescue   Working on getting this plant out in the field but it is not yet available – listing for information only!    Habit and Cultural Information Category: Grass Family: Poaceae (Gramineae) (Grasses) Origin: California (U.S.A.) Evergreen: Yes Flower Color: Pink Bloomtime: Summer Height: 2-3 feet Width: 2-3 feet Exposure: Sun or Shade Summer Dry: Yes Deer Tolerant: Yes Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs Winter Hardiness: 0-10° F Festuca californica 'Willit's Giant' (Giant California Fescue) - Evergreen clumping grass forms a 3 foot tall and wide mound of blue-green leaves. In summer appear the elegant flower stalks rising to 5 to 6 feet tall holding dangling spikelets of pink-tinged flowers on arching stems in an open inflorescence. Plant in full sun to light shade and irrigate occasionally, infrequently to not at all. It is tolerant of a wide variety of soil types and is drought tolerant, particularly in shade plantings but looks best with an occasional watering, particularly in dry winter rainfall years. For the coast it is evergreen and in colder areas it is considered root hardy to around 0° F and useful down to USDA Zone 8. California fescues are noted to be pretty resistant to deer predation and great for massed plantings, slope stabilization and for planting as an understory for oak trees. The species is native to Oregon and California, where is grows throughout the state with concentrations in the Coastal Ranges from Santa Barbara county north and in the Sierra and Cascade Ranges. This robust selection grows about twice the height of typical Festuca californica. It was introduced by Cal Flora Nursery in Fulton, California and was a selection they made from a nursery crop grown from seed collected near Willits in Mendocino County. We thank John Greenlee for providing us with our first plants of this great native grass.  Information displayed on this page about  Festuca californica 'Willit's Giant' is based on the research conducted about it in our library and from reliable online resources. We also note those observations we have made of this plant as it grows in the nursery's garden and in other gardens, as well how crops have performed in our nursery field. We will incorporate comments we receive from others, and welcome to hear from anyone who may have additional information, particularly if they share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.     [MORE INFO]