Find a plant:

OR Browse All Plants


Festuca glauca 'Boulder Blue' (Blue fescue, Gray fescue)

Festuca glauca 'Boulder Blue' Photo/Illustration: Steve Aitken

(Based on 1 user review)

Rate this plant

Plant Showcase - from our advertisers


Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Botanical Name: Festuca glauca 'Boulder Blue' fess-TOO-kah GLOK-ah Common Name: Blue fescue, Gray fescue Genus: Festuca
Regarded by some as the bluest blue fescue, this plant forms compact, cascading mounds of foot-tall, intensely blue, narrow leaves that are attractive in all seasons. Blooms are generally secondary to the foliage, but this cultivar blooms more heavily than most, with spikelets in summer. This cultivar is long-lived and very hardy. Grow in groups in a border or rock garden, or as a groundcover. 
 Noteworthy characteristics: Foliage is very blue. Drought and heat tolerant.
 Care: Tolerant of drought, heat, and poor soil. Grow in dry, well-drained soil of poor to moderate fertility in full sun. Divide every few years.
 Propagation: Divide in spring, or sow seed in a cold frame in spring, fall, or winter.
 Problems: Ergot, powdery mildew, rust, smut, brown patch, leaf spot, net blotch, pink snow mold, anthracnose, eye spot, and summer blight can affect plants.
Height 6 in. to 12 in.
Spread 6 in. to 12 in.
Growth Habit Clumps
Growth Pace Moderate Grower
Light Full Sun Only
Moisture Dry
Maintenance Low
Characteristics Showy Foliage
Bloom Time Early Summer; Summer
Foliage Color Colorful/Burgundy Foliage
Flower Color Blue Flower; Green Flower
Uses , Beds and Borders, Ground Covers
Style , Rock Garden
Seasonal Interest , Winter Interest, Spring Interest, Summer Interest, Fall Interest
Type ,Grasses

Plants you might also like

Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'
(Blue fescue, Gray fescue) (1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

These compact tufts of 8-inch-long powder-blue leaves are well suited for edging and naturalizing in the rock garden. 
Schizachyrium scoparium Schizachyrium scoparium
(Little bluestem, Prairie beard grass) (1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Little bluestem is a tidy, finely textured clumping grass with a blue-green summer color. Its silvery seed heads rise to a height of nearly 2 feet in late summer and are at their best when backlit in the morning or afternoon sun. In fall, the grass turns a rosy rust color that lasts all winter.
Sorghastrum nutans 'Indian Steel' Sorghastrum nutans 'Indian Steel'
(Indian grass) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Golden yellow plumes and a vase-like form give 'Indian Steel' a refined look. On the flower spikes, bright yellow pollen sacs stand out against the darker seed heads. Metallic blue foliage morphs to a coppery tan shade after frost. 'Indian Steel' tolerates a range of soil types, including heavy clay.
Festuca mairei Festuca mairei
(Atlas fescue) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This sturdy groundcover is fast becoming one of the most dependable grasses for creating drought-tolerant meadows. Clumping evergreen foliage is a rich khaki green and grows in an arching clump. The flowers, while noticeable, are not showy. Atlas fescue is at its best in groups and grows in all but hot, humid, and low desert climates.
Sporobolus heterolepsis Sporobolus heterolepsis
(Prairie dropseed) (1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

The finely textured, green leaves of this slow-growing, clump-forming perennial turn golden yellow in autumn. It bears cloudy panicles of fragrant, pale-pink to tawny flowers 5 to 10 inches long in late summer, reaching 3 feet tall.