Common Cotton Grass

Familiarly known as bog cotton, Eriophorum angustifolium is a native plant of raised and blanket bogs. It is a small, rhizomatous, herbaceous sedge with a creeping habit, ideal for open gardens with wet, peaty soils. The leaves are stiff, deep green, long, narrow and grass-like. Rather inconspicuous flowers are borne in April and May in multiples on tall stems with a cylindrical or triangular profile. The season of beauty for common cotton grass is from midsummer into autumn, when the seeds form tufts of white ‘cotton’ which help with wind-dispersal of the seeds, the tufts looking like rabbit tails against what can be a rather drab, boggy background.

Site: Tolerates exposure
Soil: Damp, acid soil
Position: Sunny, open site
Season of interest: Midsummer to autumn
Hardiness: Very hardy
Height: 6”-2’ (15-60cm) Spread: indefinite

Aquatic pot and compost variations

Aquatic plants come in a variety of pot and compost variations that have different benefits for planting and growing.

Mesh Pot | (Aquatic Compost)
Pot can be removed and plant can be planted directly into soil or margins above or below the water line. Pot and plant can also be placed directly into water to be container grown, but will still need repotting in time.

Pot | AQ (Aquatic Compost)
Pot must be removed and plant should be planted directly into soil or margins above or below the water line.

Pot | (Regular Compost)
Pot must be removed and plant should be planted directly into soil or margins above the water line. Cannot be planted directly into soil below the water line.

Photos by Nova and Marko Vainu, cropped, and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.