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About this plant
What makes this plant special
Intense Blue ('Casblue') keeps an unusually strong metallic blue in its foliage right through the year, and its leaves are a touch stouter than those of ordinary blue fescue. The firm, rounded mounds reach about 30 cm high and wide, giving a vivid edging for borders, rockeries and gravel beds.
Fescue Festuca
Fescues (Festuca) are a large genus of grasses from temperate regions worldwide, found in dry meadows, steppes, mountains and sandy coasts. Garden species form neat, evergreen tufts of fine, often blue-grey or grey-green leaves, topped in summer by light flower panicles. They are valued for colour and texture all year round.
Blue fescue Festuca glauca
Blue fescue originates from central and southern Europe. It forms small, dense, hedgehog-like domes of stiff, needle-thin leaves whose waxy coating gives them their blue-grey colour. From late June, thin bluish stems carry loose silvery spikelets that ripen to straw yellow.
Location and soil
Needs full sun for the best blue colour, in poor, sandy or stony, very well-drained soil, including chalky ground. Highly drought-tolerant but dies in heavy, wet soil. Fully hardy in Belgium.
Pruning and care
In February, before new growth starts, comb out dry leaves or cut the clump back to tidy it. Remove faded flower stems to prevent self-seeding. Clumps tend to die out in the centre after a few years and are then best divided or replaced.
Use in the garden
A classic for rock gardens, gravel and Mediterranean-style plantings, path edges and slopes. Planted densely it covers dry ground where lawn struggles; also attractive in pots and window boxes.
Plant characteristics
Botanical
| Family | Poaceae |
| Genus | Festuca |
| Species | glauca |
| Cultivar | 'Casblue' |
| Trade name | Intense Blue (PBR) |
Foliage
| Evergreen | yes |
| Colour (foliage) | blue |
Growth habit
| Height | 30 cm |
Location
| Winter hardiness | -25 °C |
Care
| Pruning | february |
Plant breeders' rights
Festuca glauca 'Casblue' INTENSE BLUE (PBR) is subject to European Plant Breeders Rights under nr. 20072573. Asexual propagation and/or use of the trademark without license are prohibited.