Thanks for the link to the page on Karl Foerster (this is the correct spelling, the one used by the Foersters themselves). If you are in Berlin don't miss the Foerster garden in Bornim, near Potsdam. It's well worth the short trip from Berlin. It is a lovely garden belonging to the Foerster family home, unpretentious and rather small but jampacked with Foerster's many plant creations. You can buy them at the Foerster Stauden nursery next door. There was a tribute to Karl Foerster by Isabelle van Groeningen at last year's Chelsea with a recreation of the sunken garden, the most outstanding feature. Marianne Foerster published a very nice book in 2005 about her father's garden, now a protected site. My husband and I have visited several times. The first visit was early one Saturday morning in June and we were quite alone (the gate was open and entrance was free) until Miss Foerster came out in her dressing gown, tea cup in hand, and began showing us around. She'd had some of her early garden training in Sweden so she was pleased to talk to us about that. She told us to go to the closed nursery and pick what we wanted and come back and pay to her. Too bad we had to restrict ourselves to what we'd be able to take on the plane.

Wherewerewe, I am interested in your shasta viburnum and the hollyhocks, but the only thing I have on your list are a couple of asian lilies. I do live in the Triad, though. (Why don't you come to the swap June 17?) Would you like some confederate jasmine cuttings? They're very fragrant. Kitty

Let me start with the fact that I don't have a copy of 'Karl' yet. That said, you'll find differences in quoted heights and hardiness zones for virtually every plant you research, grass or otherwise. First, zones. You can determine your zone yourself, and it's better if you do it, because you can amend it as your climate changes. Hardiness of a plant is usually measured by it's lowest tolerable temperature. You know, better than HCG or Bluestem, or the USDA, what your lowest temperature is. If it's hit (not averaged) -20 to -25°F during the past 3 years, you're in zone 4B. While you may have micro-climates in your garden that don't reach that low, you'd have to identify them (next to the house, etc..) before you could feel safe stretching the zone for a plant. Both HCG and Bluestem have excellent reputations, but since Bluestem is really a specialist in grasses for cold climates, I'd believe their hardiness zone claims on grasses. My impression is they have reports from customers who are in the zones they claim, and are successfully growing the grasses. Heights are another issue altogether. One of the reasons various resources vary in their estimates is some of them quote to the foliage and some to the plumes. Bluestem tells you both. That's another thing I like about them. Keep in mind, however, that grasses respond to their immediate conditions, just like any other plant. If they're happy, they maximize and even exceed their quoted dimensions. If they aren't, they don't. Shorter seasons, less sunlight, more or less water and nutrients will affect the way they grow. My advice would be if you have a very inflexible vacancy in the garden, don't fill it with a grass that is quoted right up to the dimensions of that slot. Pick a smaller one.

I have these grasses: Calamagrostis x acutiflora "Karl Foerster" Feather reed grass Molinia arundinacea "Skyracer" ornamental grass Panicum "Shenandoah" switchgrass ornamental grass Pennisetum alopecuroides "Hameln" ornamental Fountain grass All have winter beauty. I especially like the Karl Foerster planted in a tight zigzag row. It holds long golden, gently waving seed heads and can reach 5 feet tall. I also like my row of fountain grass, which is planted in my garden bed. Both are in view of my windows and look great in new snow. The others I have planted alone as accents and tend to fall over midwinter. This may be because they are solitary accent plants and not supporting each other in rows. I wish I had checked on which grasses are sterile. Now I wonder if some are seeding in my garden beds.