Cortaderia selloana 'Gold Band' (Gold Band Pampas Grass) - A slow growing, compact evergreen plant growing to a height of 6 ft. The thin rough-textured green leaves have narrow bands of yellow along the margins.
Plant in full to most part day sun where it grows best in well-draining, fertile soil with a regular to occasional watering. It will grow slower in poor, dry soils. As with the other Cortaderia selloana cultivars, 'Gold Band' is tolerant of both heat and cold. This cultivar makes a stunning accent plant but placement in the garden is important as the rough leaf margins cut like a knife.
The native distribution of Cortaderia selloana ranges through southern South America including in the fertile grassland plains or Pampas region that extends from Argentina into Brazil an Uruguay from which this plant gets its common name, but also into parts of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay. Despite its name and the thought that this grass is a major component of the Pampas region, it is most commonly found in riparian and other wet habitats such as poorly drained depressions rather than out on the drier grassland plains. In current times it has become distributed throughout the world as an ornamental plant and an invasive species. The name for the genus comes from the Argentine Spanish name 'cortadera' which means "cutter", referring to the sharp leaf margins and the specific epithet honors the German botanist Friedrich Sellow (1789–1831) who collected and studied the flora of South America. The common name comes from the word 'pampa' which means "plains" in the Quechua language of the indigenous Andean people.
We grew and sold this attractive large grass from 1991 until 2010 and although we have never had any seedlings of this plant appear in our garden from this plant and this cultivar itself has not been identified as a weed pest, after the wildly invasive species Cortaderia jubata was declared a noxious weed with more recent studies also determining that Cortaderia selloana was naturalizing, this led to the general concern about the planting of any Pampas Grass. Because of this we discontinued production of all Cortaderia cultivars in 2010. While it might still be a useful plant in urban environments, care should be exercised when planting any plant like this in locations where seed may spread into the wild and sensitive habitats.
This information about Cortaderia selloana 'Gold Band' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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