The Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass, otherwise known as the Aristida Purpurea ‘Chino Hills’ or Sea Thrift ‘Alba’, Thrift ‘Alba’, Sea Pink ‘Alba’, Cliff Rose ‘Alba’, Cushion Pink ‘Alba’, Lady’s Cushion ‘Alba’, Lady’s Pincushion ‘Alba’, Marsh Daisy ‘Alba’, Sea Gilliflower ‘Alba’, Sea Grass ‘Alba’, is a rather well known perennial plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and fast growth, this perennial will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its light green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, taking care of your Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass is not too difficult – as long as you follow our guidelines in this Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass Care Guide. Now let’s get started.
In order to take proper care of your Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass you’ll need to keep in mind the following guidelines:
- Water: The Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass needs at least weekly watering, or more in extreme heat, preferably with regular water.
- Light: Keep your Aristida Purpurea ‘Chino Hills’ in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass belongs to the Plumbaginaceae family, the genus Armeria and the species Maritima, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Aristida Purpurea ‘Chino Hills’ (ar-RISS-tih-duh pur-PUR-ee-uh).
As with other Armeria’s, the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass is a plant native to the Europe and North America and Greenland.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Aristida Purpurea ‘Chino Hills’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 4a, 4b, 5b, 5a, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8b, 8a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, A2, A3.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass is a relatively fast grower, which makes things tricky for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, how big does the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass actually get? What should you expect in terms of size? Let’s dive right in…
The Aristida Purpurea ‘Chino Hills’ can grow up to 3″ – 6″ (7cm – 15cm) in 3″ – 6″ (7cm – 15cm) and 6″ – 9″ (15cm – 22cm) in 6″ – 9″ (15cm – 22cm).
These dimensions make the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass a relatively small perennial compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful upright shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 6″ – 9″ (15cm – 22cm) free so the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Aristida Purpurea ‘Chino Hills’ needs at least weekly watering, or more in extreme heat, preferably with regular water.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
In our experience, the famous ‘thumb’ or ‘finger’ test is what works best for the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass since with it, you will be able to give it the right amount of water, every time – regardless of the environment or placement where you do decide to keep it.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass prefers to have soil with good drainage properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
This is why most experts agree that the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass requires soil with loam (silt), sand, and shallow rocky, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this perennial will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Aristida Purpurea ‘Chino Hills’ in from little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to dappled or moderate shade (under other plant’s canopy), to full and direct sun (more than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass will die back to the ground every year.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (late), and during the summer (early).
Flowers
You can expect your Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass to flower around the spring and in the summer months from April to June (spring), and from July to September (summer).
In particular, this perennial is well known for its long bloom season and showy plumes around the plant enthusiast community.
The Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass produces some beautiful purplish-pink, or pink and white flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass have a beautiful light green color during most of the year.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass is well known for being able to attract butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for salt, drought, dry soil, rocky soil and animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Aristida Purpurea ‘Chino Hills’ will be fine.
Garden
Now, let’s talk garden and how your Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass will look best in it.
Most Aristida Purpurea ‘Chino Hills’ owners agree that this perennial will look great in most rustic, contemporary and xeric gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of coastal garden, informal and cottage, city and courtyard, gravel and rock garden, and in prairie and meadow styles.
In particular, the Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass’s best location within your garden is in edging, patio and containers, beds and borders, ground covers, and in small gardens, others use it for landscaping in a hillside, rock garden, border, erosion control, naturalized areas, mass planting, container, coastal exposure, or a wildlife garden.
Companion Plants
Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Rudbeckia, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Echinacea will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
And we’ve come to an end. Fortunately, that’s everything you need to know about your Chino Hills Purple Three-Awn Grass to keep it safe and sound in your garden or home. Enjoy planting!
