Your guide to ornamental grass- Sesleria nitida
April 28, 2025
Plant Spotlight: Sesleria nitida (Blue Bristle Grass)
If you're searching for a non-invasive ornamental grass, Sesleria nitida is an excellent choice! Native to Europe, this low-maintenance grass features soft, blue-grey foliage and delicate flower heads that sway beautifully in the breeze.
Why Choose Sesleria nitida?
- Non-invasive: Safe for naturalistic and eco-friendly gardens
- Drought-tolerant: Ideal for low-water landscapes
- Versatile: Pairs well with rocks, perennials, wildflowers, and cactus gardens
- Year-round interest: Offers color and texture even outside of peak bloom times
Planting Tips:
- Choose a sunny to partially shaded location
- Well-draining soil is key — avoid overly rich or heavy soils
- Minimal maintenance required — occasional trimming keeps it tidy
You can find Sesleria nitida at Waterwise Botanicals — perfect for creating natural, resilient landscapes!
Tips & Hints
A fun list of 12 compiled truths observed by Jackie Jesch of Waterwise Botanicals located in Bonsall, CA. We can all be a little more like succulents.
Gardening tips for attracting Honey Bees to your garden.
23 Plants to Attract Hummingbirds to Your Garden. #WaterWiseBotanicals
Waterewise Botanicals shares their downloadable list of 37 plants to include in your garden if you want to attract butterflies.
Recent Posts
Cactus Blossoms and Springtime Spring is a season for renewal after Winter. Flowers start to bloom, and Easter is celebrated with Easter Eggs and Chocolate Bunnies. We begin to garden again; fashion trends start to go from dark to light and bright. Here at Waterwise Botanicals, we have ‘Cactus Blooming Season’ filled with the awesome, large Cleistocactus Blooms, which are huge and stunningly beautiful. Spring to me refers to “a new beginning”, flowers blooming, birds singing, days are brighter and longer, and colors explode. Dark turns to Dawn and all things are new and fresh. What a perfect time to enhance your landscape, plant a garden (flower or veggies) or both! Its also a great time to start a new hobby or habit…walking, biking, working out at a dance class or gym. It’s time for adding a freshness to your life. For instance, you could buy yourself some flowers, start a new novel, give someone you love a gift for no reason, or take a Painting or Ceramics class, go for a drive to somewhere new, shop at a different store, draw pictures for or with your kids or grandkids. The list can just go on and on. I guess we all need a time to blossom. Maybe this Spring it the perfect time for us to bloom and grow too…after all, soon the birds will be making nests, and we will be seeing Butterflies and Bees. Here’s to blue skies, lemonade, new adventures, sandy toes, long drives, new talents, Butterflies, and visits to see Waterwise Botanicals. Don’t forget our Free Succulent Saturdays, including vendors, food, fish feeding and fun. Welcome Spring! Jackie Jesch Waterwise Botanicals
Cactus Blossoms and Springtime Spring is a season for renewal after Winter. Flowers start to bloom, and Easter is celebrated with Easter Eggs and Chocolate Bunnies. We begin to garden again; fashion trends start to go from dark to light and bright. Here at Waterwise Botanicals, we have ‘Cactus Blooming Season’ filled with the awesome, large Cleistocactus Blooms, which are huge and stunningly beautiful. Spring to me refers to “a new beginning”, flowers blooming, birds singing, days are brighter and longer, and colors explode. Dark turns to Dawn and all things are new and fresh. What a perfect time to enhance your landscape, plant a garden (flower or veggies) or both! Its also a great time to start a new hobby or habit…walking, biking, working out at a dance class or gym. It’s time for adding a freshness to your life. For instance, you could buy yourself some flowers, start a new novel, give someone you love a gift for no reason, or take a Painting or Ceramics class, go for a drive to somewhere new, shop at a different store, draw pictures for or with your kids or grandkids. The list can just go on and on. I guess we all need a time to blossom. Maybe this Spring it the perfect time for us to bloom and grow too…after all, soon the birds will be making nests, and we will be seeing Butterflies and Bees. Here’s to blue skies, lemonade, new adventures, sandy toes, long drives, new talents, Butterflies, and visits to see Waterwise Botanicals. Don’t forget our Free Succulent Saturdays, including vendors, food, fish feeding and fun. Welcome Spring! Jackie Jesch Waterwise Botanicals
Have you ever seen a cactus with a buttcrack? Meet our Notocactus leninghausii—aka the Golden Ball Cactus —a spiky little guy with a surprisingly cheeky feature. That’s right, this cactus has a "buttcrack" and we’re here for it. Stick around to see this golden oddball up close and personal—nature’s sense of humor is alive and well in the plant world! Click on the image above to see our YouTube video!
Flower Gardens are fun I have a space in my yard for my “Flower Garden”. It’s “All About Flowers”. I just planted several packs of seeds during the last month, and now I wait to see what will happen. I tried this before with not much success, but I’m trying it again. I think it will help that I actually plant flowers also. It gives me hope that the plants and seeds will somehow encourage each other…that they will find their purpose in growing and blooming to create JOY when they are viewed (mostly by me). I’ve tried this before, but I’m still hopeful each time. The soil and sun…water and prayers should start resembling the vision of a graceful, flowering garden. My grandmother was a wonderful gardener. She could break off a “slip” of this, or that, and it would sprout roots in a glass of water in no time at all…then she’d plant it in the dirt, and before long it was a thriving bush. I think I would do better buying the thriving bush, planting it, and watching it bloom. I like instant gardening results. I also like “take-out” when I’m HUNGRY! I’ve also found that rather than baking cookies, there are several ones from the store that are tasty. I think that as we age, we don’t like to wait on things...Patience runs out. Fast food is better than it used to be (and quicker). Patience is truly an art to be admired and developed, however, I move and think a bit slower, and that is frustrating. Perhaps there is an element of art to everything that we do well. I guess I will start developing an attitude of patience when I garden. We have so many instant things…coffee (although, it’s not as good), instant pudding (although my grown children say my homemade was the BEST), instant movies on TV. Well…I guess I should keep trying a few flower seeds to develop patience, but it won’t hurt to plant some “BLOOMIN’ FLOWERS” either. Happy Planting, Jackie Jesch