Fiber Optic Grass, to Catch the Eye

Fiber optic gazing balls. They are fun and intriguing. We admired them as kids when we explored the science centers. Do you know that now we can admire Fiber Optic Grass at our garden centers as well?

Fiber Optic Grass, Isolepis cernua, looks similar to a fiber optic gazing ball. But unlike the wiry orbs from the science center, this mound of soft greenery is something special for containers and garden beds. 

Isolepis cernua is comprised of glossy greenery, pretty on its own. The plant’s blades are thin and grow fairly long, from the center of the plant outward. But the flowering tips of Fiber Optic Grass are what account for its name. 

Fiber Optic Grass, Isolepis cernua, shows off a small bud on literally every green blade. The buds are the tiniest spheres before they open into silvery white flowers, also on a miniscule scale. Known as Live Wire Grass, this little charmer adds “a spark” to plant displays.

I first came across this Live Wire of a plant when filling a container for a friend’s new home. I went to the garden center to look over the plants I could use. With limited space, I passed up colorful plants to save room for the addition of Fiber Optic Grass. And I am glad I did.

Fiber Optic Grass has a mounding growth habit, but when I tucked it near the rim of the container for my friend, its thin blades gracefully trailed to the side to show off the tiny buds on their tips.

My container had the requisite drainage holes. Good drainage was surely important to other plants in the mix. But I now know that even with overwatering, Fiber Optic Grass, or Isolepis cernua, Live Wire, would have been fine. Come to find out, it can grow in the wettest locations. At an extreme, Isolepis cernua does well on the edges of water gardens. Sounds dangerous for a “Live Wire”, but in this case, it is okay.

I do not know how much my friend watered her container. Based on her giving ways, I would take her to be an over-waterer. If I am right about her plant-care style, then that would not have mattered to Isolepis cernua, Live Wire. While other plants in the mix might have gotten waterlogged under her care, Fiber Optic Grass would have remained happy. And it did.

Using grassy plants in a container display is not typical for me. Most would crowd out everything else. But the petite mound of Fiber Optic Grass took its place among more traditional container plants. When my friend saw the display, she remarked that Isolepis cernua was like a Fourth of July sparkler amid the other plants. I agreed. Those tiny terminal blooms helped to give it this look. It was truly a sparking, energized Live Wire. We both loved the plant.

Isolepis cernua, Live Wire is a sedge that needs moisture, moisture, and more moisture. It is not picky about whether it is in full or partial sun, but it does like warmth. Freezing temperatures must be avoided. I think this meant that that first mound of Fiber Optic Grass I gave my friend became an annual. I probably should have encouraged her to take the Live Wire inside, where it would have maintained its blooms year-round. She would have liked that. Regardless, the sparkler-type addition to my friend’s container display gave her pleasure in that first summer in her new home. I got a picture of the display late in that season, and the Fiber Optic Grass, Isolepis cernua, had expanded while maintaining its glossiness and a plethora of buds and blooms. 

I will keep Isolepis cernua in mind as I shop for plants this season. And I think my friend will, too. The Live Wire plant we tended a few years back sparked our interest, for sure. I hope you will look for them, as well, and enjoy the spark of this eye-catching plant as much as I do.