Known as moor-grass, Sesleria are long-lived grasses with colourful two-tone foliage; they are often the first grasses to flower, in spring. In the wild, the 25 or so species are found mainly on mountain rocks in the Balkans, and into Asia. Densely tufted evergreen grasses, the slowly creeping root systems of Sesleria form low-growing loose mats of wide leaves with blunt points, often with different shades on the upper and lower surfaces. Many have very attractive flowers, some blooming as early as March. The flower stems are usually straight and slender, with rounded compact flowerheads. They are silvery green to purple-black, and hung with prominent yellow stamens.

In terms of leaf colour, there are blue-greens (such as with Sesleria heufleriana, or the Balkan blue grass), blue-grey (with Sesleria nitida, or the grey moor-grass) and chartreuse-yellow (with Sesleria autumnalis). These very tough little grasses make excellent and colourful ground cover for path edges, and are highly attractive when planted with small spring bulbs, such as Narcissus and the lower-growing tulips. Generally trouble-free, it is a good idea to grow Sesleria in full sun, in a free-draining, fertile soil – ideally neutral to alkaline in nature.