Tall moor grass 'Skyracer'
Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea 'Skyracer' ·
From a knee-high mound of leaves, arrow-straight flower stems rise above head height and open into an airy, golden haze. In autumn the whole plant turns clear yellow.
- Size
- 7 ft tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Mid July to mid September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around tall moor grass 'Skyracer'
The planner designed this bed around tall moor grass 'Skyracer' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) contemporary bed in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why tall moor grass 'Skyracer' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Tall moor grass 'Skyracer' × 1, tan
- 2 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 8, yellow
- 3 Creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue' × 5, blue
- 4 Siberian iris 'Caesar's Brother' × 3, purple
- 5 Gray's sedge × 3, green
- 6 Palm sedge × 3, green leaves
- 7 Red spider lily × 10, red
Why this plant
- The only airy sprays. The others are daisies, open bowls, globes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only tan. Tan sits between stronger colours and calms them.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So do Gray's sedge and palm sedge.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 7 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Gray's sedge (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 11 weeks. From mid July to mid September.
- In company. With Gray's sedge in mid July: 2 kinds at once.
- Stands through winter. Left uncut, it holds its shape until March, when the perennials have gone.
Planned as a contemporary bed: 32 of the 32 plants that stand in groups (100%) are set out in a pattern with their neighbours: a straight row, a triangle, or five like the five on a dice. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 49 to 51, left to right. Cool colours (blue and purple) set against hot ones (yellow and red), with tan and green to calm things between them. Worth a second look, according to the Design check: heights.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 6 Good, 1 Needs revision. Its weakest point is height and scale: Heights average about 6 in at the front, 20 in in the middle and 3½ ft at the back. Along the back row the heights step up and down, between 2½ ft and 7 ft, and no two neighbours are the same height. 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 tall moor grass 'Skyracer' goes in a border
At 7 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is super tall (over 6½ ft). It is airy enough to see through, so it can also come forward and veil what is behind it.
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
Tall and completely see-through, so it can stand in the middle or even the front of a bed. Give it space to be seen as a single plant; it is wasted in a crowd.
- A tall, transparent screen
- Naturalistic planting
- Autumn colour
What to plant with tall moor grass 'Skyracer'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe': in flower together for seven weeks, from late July; bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (4 ft) to stand in front of it.
- Japanese anemone: in flower together for six weeks, from mid August; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Great burnet: in flower together for nine weeks, from mid July; low enough (4 ft) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about tall moor grass 'Skyracer'
Does tall moor grass 'Skyracer' need sun or shade?
Tall moor grass 'Skyracer' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does tall moor grass 'Skyracer' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °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.
When does tall moor grass 'Skyracer' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid July to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Mid July to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Mid July to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Early July to mid September |
| Zone 8 | Early July to mid September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should tall moor grass 'Skyracer' be planted?
2½ ft (75 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 7 ft (220 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many tall moor grass 'Skyracer' plants do I need?
At 2½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 2 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 5 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 6 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is tall moor grass 'Skyracer' 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 tall moor grass 'Skyracer'?
Tall moor grass 'Skyracer' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Switchgrass 'Northwind': the same job in a bed and the same colour; 20 in shorter, 6 in narrower.
- Indian grass: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 16 in shorter, 6 in narrower.
- Tall coreopsis: the same job in a bed; 16 in shorter, flowers early August to mid September.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after tall moor grass 'Skyracer'?
Tall moor grass 'Skyracer' is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Swamp sunflower: from late September to late October, 6½ ft tall.
- Blue wood aster: from mid September to mid October, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does tall moor grass 'Skyracer' look like in winter?
Tall moor grass 'Skyracer' turns the colour of straw and, left uncut, stands through the winter. Cut it down in late winter, before the new shoots come up.
More Molinia
- Purple moor grass 'Moorhexe' Molinia caerulea 'Moorhexe'
- Purple moor grass 'Variegata' Molinia caerulea 'Variegata'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Grass
- Size
- 7 ft (220 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 2½ ft (75 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back, or further forward: it is airy enough to see through
- Flowers
- Mid July to mid September; airy sprays; tan
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
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.