Oh, I didn't know there was a grass discussion going on here, LOL...I can contribute a thought or two here. Miscanthus giganteus wintered for me (planted in '06) - it has not yet plumed, though and I don't expect it will. My Flame Grass is about 5 years old and are nice sized clumps but gets at the most to 3' tall (if that). It does plume some although quite late. The 'flaming' part has me somewhat stumped - it sort of starts to get a tinge and then turns a brown/tan colour. Can't say as I'm really thrilled with it, overall. M. Morning Light, planted in a nice protected spot and with ample snow cover did not winter. M. Blutenwonder is going on year 4 or 5 in my yard, and has plumed the past 2 years. It is still not a big clump but it doesn't seem to struggle, just not very fast growing at all. Because they start to grow so much later, and I have them mixed in with cool season grasses, I find I'm overlooking it until one day, boom, there it is. Panicum virgatum bloomed nice last year, finally. Prairie Sky is a beautiful blue. But again, later to start. Overall none of the Panicums or Miscanthus varieties grow quickly in my yard, nor do they reach the heights that are normally stated. The Calamagrostis varieties Sharon mentions above, in my opinion, are better suited to the northern garden, being that they start growing early, plume early and have plenty of time to go thru their cycle before the cold weather once again hits. The warm season grasses, although many have proven hardy, are just too slow to start (the soil has to have warmed sufficiently before growth starts) and many want to plume when frost is threatening or has already taken place. A big, native grass I'm really liking is Spartina pectinata, but it's going to have an issue with spreading so unless you have a nice big area where it can roam, I guess I wouldn't recommend it (unless you use a root barrier). M. giganteus also has this reputation but in a cold zone, who knows. I did do some root pruning late last year and it wasn't so terrible to dig up and cut the spreaders. The Spartina stems are really strong, too - it's holding up very well thru everything this winter has so far thrown at it and being that it's about 5' tall, sticks up out of the snow for winter interest. Me likey. For the shorter grasses, Helictotrichon sempervirens (Blue Oat) and Deschampsia's are nice as well as fully hardy. Blue Fescue, unless a sterile cultivar, reseed with much abandon for me so it's banished from the yard.

Pudge, I don't think that the reason your Ruby Grass failed to bloom has to do with the length of the season. They were started here in March and as you can see from the photo below, they are in bloom. The biggest problem with this grass is that it requires consistent heat to bloom. I grew it last year and it didn't bloom at all (or very weakly) even though my transplants were very large. But last summer was very cool here and the night temperatures were generally between 15 and 20C. This year we had heat here (and loads of it). July & August was consistently between 29 and 35 C. Our night temperatures hovered in the 20s and itÂs still hot. I took this picture at the Botanical Gardens on August 28th. I am disappointed with this grass since although they are beautiful, they are invasive in warmer places and in cooler locations they don't bloom well. Think IÂll stick to Stipa tenuissima or Pennisetum setaceum. Marilena

Well, heck, I was just trying to help take your mind off not feeling well, LOL! WOW!! What a fabulous yard! What gorgeous sweeping vistas... all those beautiful miscanthus...just terrific! I'll keep coming back to these for some time... Love the stone wall with the nifty little hook at the end! Also, what trees are you growing? Their forms are so nice - more winter interest, along with the grasses. What, in particular, is the dusky-leaved one that is leafing out in the fourth picture and seemingly in full leaf in the fifth? How nice to have an acreage and what a great job you've done with it. (*Sigh* ...wonder if anyone would notice if I annex the playground behind our house?) I don't think I'm capable of giving a meaningful description of the Poa cita, other than clumping, upright, about 18" tall (in clay soil, full sun), not unusual color-wise... duh, I'll see if I can find a picture! They were labelled as that when I bought the plants, anyway, and have proved hardy. (Googling the name, I see it is a species native to New Zealand and sub-antarctic islands...hmm, guess that would explain how it survives here, assuming it was correctly labelled.) Unfortunately, I didn't collect seeds of it or the Sesleria glauca, but could make a point to do that next year. Attached is a seed source for the Poa cita, if you wanted to try then right away. Well, gotta go look at your pix again! Thanks!

Depends if you are expecting good neighbors or bad. If the latter, then maybe a blackberry patch with sickle-shaped thorns is in order. (ha,ha) Seriously, a lot of your prairie grasses put down deep roots, much deeper than you might expect. With the nutrients and moisture of the leach bed, root invasion into the leach bed is definitely possible. Where you live, your leach bed lines might be below the frost line at probably 3' to 4' down. Around where I live, I've seen trees in close proximity to leach beds for years with no collapse of the leach bed system. However, you will know if you have any roots building up in the system with an increase in the number of times that your septic tank will need pumped out. Prairie Cord grass is not that tall as to screen out the neighboring house. What is the purpose of the grass that you want?