Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue'
Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' · Poaceae Popular
A tight, spiky hemisphere of fine, powder-blue leaves that holds its colour through the summer better than other blue fescues.
- Size
- 10 in tall, 10 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves; flowers late May to late June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Edging
A bed built around blue fescue 'Elijah Blue'
The planner designed this bed around blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' × 9, blue-green leaves
- 2 Sedum 'Lidakense' × 36, pink
- 3 Purple milkweed × 3, purple
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Sea kale × 1, white
- 6 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 3, purple
- 7 Star of Persia × 3, purple
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
- Part of the matrix. The low fabric of grasses and groundcovers that the taller plants come up through.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 10 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 51% of the edge.
- 9 plants in 3 runs (5, 3 and 1). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
- Fine leaf against bold. Sea kale is beside it: the strongest contrast of leaf there is.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 20 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 62% of the planted ground. Purple is the colour seen most, on 3 of the 6 kinds grown for their flowers. Sedum 'Lidakense' is the plant there is most of: 36 of the 58.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 7 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' goes in a border
At 10 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: edging. A low, neat plant used in short runs of three or five along the front to finish the edge (or, in a formal bed, in one even row).
The standard blue fescue. Set the tufts a little apart so that each reads as a separate ball. Divide it every three years, when the centre dies out.
- Blue edging
- Rock and gravel gardens
- Containers and green roofs
What to plant with blue fescue 'Elijah Blue'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Sedum 'Angelina': a low mound at the foot of its spires; low enough (5 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Hens and chicks: a low mound at the foot of its spires; low enough (4 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
- English lavender 'Hidcote': adds the flowers, late June to late July; a low mound at the foot of its spires; tall enough (18 in) to stand behind it.
Questions about blue fescue 'Elijah Blue'
Does blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' need sun or shade?
Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 10 in (25 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' plants do I need?
At 10 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 17 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 13 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 55 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as runs of three or five along the front (or one even row, in a formal bed).
In the bed above, the planner used nine in three groups.
Is blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like blue fescue 'Elijah Blue'?
Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' comes from Northeast Spain to Northwest Italy. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Sea thrift: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early May to mid June.
- Coral bells 'Firefly': the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers late May to late July, medium leaves, not fine.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat blue fescue 'Elijah Blue'?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What does blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' look like in winter?
Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' keeps its blue-green and silver leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' good for bees and butterflies?
Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' is visited by butterflies.
More Festuca
- Atlas fescue Festuca mairei
- Blue fescue Festuca glauca
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Grass
- Size
- 10 in (25 cm) tall, 10 in (25 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late May to late June; upright spires; tan
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; blue-green, silver
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Poaceae
- Comes from
- Northeast Spain to Northwest Italy
- Attracts
- Butterflies
- Stands up to
- Drought, poor soil, black walnut
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.