The most theatrical grass we grow, and worth being clear that it is not the barley you are thinking of. Hordeum vulgare is the compact grain crop behind beer and bread. This is Hordeum jubatum, the wild ornamental cousin from the North American prairies, grown purely for the drama of its awns. They are related and they look nothing alike.Each seed head throws long silky bristles up to 10cm on either side, curving outwards and slightly down like a fox's brush. That curve is what gives every stem an arched silhouette and the whole bunch its movement, where an upright grass just stands there. The awns catch light and make a soft halo around each head, so it reads as a meadow at golden hour rather than a harvest bundle.The colour is naturally variegated without anything being done to it: pinkish blush at the awn tips, warm cream through the middle, pale straw at the base. Most dried grasses are one flat tone, so this is unusual. Bunches are 15 stems at around 50cm, cut at the point the awns have reached full length but before they start to shatter, which is a narrow window. Grown and barn-dried at Salle Moor Hall, chemical-free. Seasonal, while the year's harvest lasts.
