Ophiopogon umbraticola
The unusual, fine-textured, southern Chinese mondo grass, Ophiopogon umbraticola, makes small curly tufts of very narrow green blades that resemble your hair when waking up after a long night of consuming adult beverages. The dark green clumps are adorned with 10″ long stalks of tiny white flowers in late June, which are replaced in October with large, cobalt blue fruit. Ophiopogon umbraticola is an easy-to-grow, fine textural addition to the woodland garden, and possibly one of the hardiest of the genus, breezing through Zone 5 winters. This plant entered the country as Ophiopogon chingii and has been passed around under that name until several of us found that it was incorrectly identified.
