Hi, We traded in the spring. I would love to trade again. I sent you an email. Happy gardening.

Here are the botanical names for all the grasses. Acorus gramineus 'Tanimanoyuki' Arundo donax giant reed grass Calamagrostis arundinacea 'Karl Foerster' feather reed Carex morrowii âÂÂIce Danceâ Eragrostis spectabis purple lovegrass Erianthus ravennae Festuca cinerea 'Glauca' blue fescue Imperata cylindrica 'Rubra Red Baron' Japanese Blood Miscanthus sinensis 'Gracillimus' maiden Miscanthus sinensis 'Grosse Fountaine' Miscanthus sinensis 'Kleine Fountaine' Japanese Silver Miscanthus sinensis 'Purpurascens' flame Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus' zebra Panicum Virgatum grass switch Panicum Virgatum 'Heavy Metal' Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah' Pennisetum alopecuroides fountain Pennisetum alopecuroides ribbon Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln' Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Moudry' Black Fountain Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' red fountain Sisyrinchium angustifolium blue eyed grass

Thank you for posting your beautiful project, meggie! I'm working on a landscape for my grandparents' house in Lewisville at the moment. They don't take care of their landscaping so drought tolerance is important, and using natives is always a plus. It's been tough because their front yard is a northern exposure and up against the house under the awning, it gets no sun and away from the house it gets shade all day except for a blast of mid-day sun. Do you happen to have any spots in your yard that get that kind of exposure? What plants have worked there?

It might help to approach it with a theme in mind. Cordyline is a tropical plant from Hawaii while switchgrass is a prairie plant and I can't see mixing prairie with tropical myself. Also consider your zone. Switchgrass grows native in the plains and grasslands much further north in the cooler part of the country and goes through seasonal changes which zone 9 South Texas doesn't have. If you want a grass I'd suggest a Texas native like Muhlenbergia dumosa or M. lindheimerii which will stay evergreen for you. You can grow much more exotic plants than you are suggesting. It might be a good idea to take a ride around where you live and search for plants that appeal to you and get a visual picture to work from when you find a combination you like. Consider some zone 8 or 9 plants, Mexican Red Bird of Paradise for example, would not grow further north and many of us would love to be in your zone where we could grow some of the fabulous plants from Mexico but it would grow well for you. Crepe Myrtle is a safe choice but they are over used, common work horse plants and I see them in just about every median and yard around here in Oklahoma. It definitely wouldn't be my choice if I moved to zone 9 when there are so many exotic plants to choose from. That is plenty of sun in zone 9 by the way, you can grow just about anything in an east exposure.