A while back I got the idea that the Irish/Scottish moss could be used as a grass replacement. I was at the local Sheridan Nurseries this past weekend and saw some Irish Moss and some Scottish Moss but it was pricey...a 4" by 4" patch was $12.99. When I got home I started poking around on the internet to find Irish Moss and Scottish Moss seeds but was only able to find a couple of places that sells the Irish Moss seeds and would ship to Canada. However, during my search I was unable to locate any Scottish Moss seeds, would anyone know a place that sells Scottish Moss seeds and would ship to Canada (if over the Internet)? My wife prefers the brighter green of the Scottish Moss. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
The plant you seek is Sagina subulata 'Aurea' [or Sagina subulata var. glabrata 'Aurea']. Common name is heath pearlwort (although the first time I knew that was when I looked it up just now). Sagina subulata has the common names of Irish moss and Scottish moss in North America, although they are confusing names--not moss and not endemic to those countries. Maybe try a search for the Latin names to see if you can track down a source. Seed from other countries should not be a problem to bring into Canada. Unless the species are restricted, bringing seed in is generally not an issue.
michael a misnomer here in the colonies Irish moss or Scottish moss is a flowering plant Sagina subulata http://www.perennials.com/seeplant.html?item=1.460.100 just called 'moss' because of the superficial likeness to the growth habit of a bryophyte sorry don't know about seeds but it spreads like crazy
I put in a small patch of 'Irish Moss' this summer in my Mom's little back garden and it has, as peirrot said, spread like mad. In three months it nearly doubled in size, plus there are seedlings as much as ten feet away from the original patch popping up everywhere. If you can find a nice full pot of the stuff and split it in two, planting them separately, I think you'll find it fills in pretty quickly. I have to agree, I like the darker, richer green of the so called Irish moss better than the paler Scotch version.
It is indeed a flowering plant, not a moss. It looks like a moss to the viewer, but should be treated as a plant by the gardener. In most of Vancouver, Scotch and Irish moss can be found everywhere from urban train tracks, to sidewalk cracks, so before you spend a lot of money, I recommend looking carefully around your local environment, to see if it can simply be picked up for free. Learn to identify it, and then scan your local surroundings. You may find to your surprise, as I did, that you have been killing it for years in the spaces between stones on your patio! Of course, Ontario has a different climate. However, I would not be at all surprised if there are places in and around Markham, possibly even in your yard, where it has established itself. In my case, because I had harrassed it so much as a 'pest', it looked sparse, wiry and much lankier than the thick green plugs I saw at the plant store. However, once I transplanted these desperate and harrassed crack dwellers where I wanted them, between flagstones and on the border of my rock paths, and treated them nicely, they soon filled out to look identical to their plant store cousins.
