King Tut Papyrus

Gary Bachman: King Tut Papyrus is a must have landscape plant for next year today on Southern Gardening.

Announcer: Southern Gardening with Gary Bachman, is produced by Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Gary Bachman: One plant that drew a lot of attention in our trial gardens this year was the exotic looking King Tut papyrus. This grass-like plant can easily grow to 6 feet tall and has a striking presence in the landscape. King Tut is a member of the same papyrus family of plants that the ancient Egyptians used to make paper and the dramatic appearance makes for great conversation with the connection to the distant past. If you want that exotic look but have a small growing space there are a couple of smaller choices. I grew Prince Tut in my landscape in a large terra cotta container that is perfect for displaying the three foot plant. There is even Baby Tut, which at less than 2 feet tall would be fantastic in a container. All three papyrus selections feature triangular green stems topped by an umbrella-like inflorescence with 100’s of thread-like rays. The flower clusters appear at the ends of the rays. Papyrus generally aren’t hardy where extended freezing temperatures occur. In Mississippi in zones 8 and 9 usually the plant will usually die back to the ground and return the next year. But even if they don’t come back the next spring, if the home gardener just treated them as annuals and bought a plant or two each year the rate of growth and that unique texture would be worth it.

Until next time, I’m horticulturist Gary Bachman enjoying our Southern Gardening.