Pampas Grass
Cortaderia selloana
📖 About this plant
A dramatic, large-scale ornamental grass that makes an unforgettable statement in the landscape. It forms massive, fountain-like clumps of sharp-edged, arching leaves and produces enormous, fluffy, silvery-white or pinkish flower plumes in late summer that tower above the foliage. A single plant can serve as a stunning focal point, windbreak, or screen. Has become invasive in some warm climates — check local regulations.
🧑🌾 Care requirements
Full sun (8+ hrs)
Every 1-2 weeks
Low (30-40%)
5-35°C
Well-draining, moderately fertile, loamy or sandy soil; highly adaptable to various soil types
Balanced slow-release fertilizer in early spring; compost top dressing beneficial
🌐 Common Names
📋 Plant facts
- 🌍 Origin
- Southern South America — Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, and the Pampas grasslands
- 📏 Max height
- 2-4 m (flower plumes can reach 3-4 m)
- 📐 Spread
- 120-200 cm
- 🕰️ Bloom time
- Late Summer - Fall
- 🎨 Bloom color
- White, Pink, Silver
- 🍃 Foliage color
- Green
- ⏳ Lifespan
- Perennial
- 📈 Growth rate
- Fast
- ☠️ Toxicity
- Leaf blades have sharp serrated edges that can cause cuts — wear gloves when handling; otherwise non-toxic
- 🌱 Propagation
- Division of large clumps in early spring; seed sowing in spring — can be weedy/invasive in some regions
🛡️ Health & Safety
Leaf blades have sharp serrated edges that can cause cuts — wear gloves when handling; otherwise non-toxic
Common issues
- Pampas grass borer in stems
- Rust fungus
- Leaf spot
- Division needed when center dies
💡 Care tips
- Massive feathery plumes can reach 10 feet tall
- Extremely drought-tolerant once established in the landscape
- Wear gloves when pruning as leaf edges are extremely sharp
- Can be invasive in warm climates so check local regulations before planting
