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Ornamental Grasses

Dwarf Fountain Grass

13 years ago

Please help as I am a novice gardner.

I would like to use Dwarf fountain grasses (pennisetum alopecuroides Hameln) in containers on my front porch and deck area. I'm in zone 6 Eastern Indiana. I have read on several sites that the grass is hardy in zones 4-9. However this plant at my local Lowe's id card says cold hardiness zone 6. It does not list a range of zones just says cold hardiness zone 6. I would like to leave these plants during the winter outside in the containers. The plants are 1 gallon each and I would have a time trying to get them in the ground. I would like to leave them in containers to use next season. My concern is wheather they will survive in containers outside during the winter. They are about 18 dollars/1 gallon and I plan to buy 4 of them, so I dont want them to be lost like an annual. If leaving them outside is not a good option, will moving them to my garage be ok?

Thanks

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Comment (1)

donn_
13 years ago
'Hameln' is reliably hardy to Zone 4.

The rule of thumb for plants wintering in containers above ground is to allow 2 zones, so you're right on the line. Small containers, like a trade 1-gallon pot, are more susceptible than larger containers. A 1-gallon pot is also too small to support a 'Hameln' for long.

How cold does it get in your garage? The plants will be dormant, so they won't miss light.

$18 strikes me as expensive for a 1-gallon 'Hameln.' A 4" pot plant, if you start now, will reach 1-gallon size by fall, and probably only cost you ~$6-7.
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