The place I have in mind for the carex has morning shade til around 1 pm, and some spotty afternoon shade moving over it. It is moister than the rest of the strip, by being next to a downspout. I really like this plant: I may go get more if I could figure out where to put them. I have lots of dry shade in a back garden raised bed under ash trees. I have a watering systems set up there. But it gets pretty dry if I donÂt stay on top of it. Will they take dry shade? With occasional good soaks? Hosta does OK, and and astilbe do well there. The gold color would really light up that area. How big does M. 'Morning Light' get? The tag said 5 feet tall and wide, is that correct?. I would like a large "anchor" for this space. But more than 5 feet wide would be pushing it. Fast grower? ItÂs a gallon pot now so is only maybe 6 inches in diameter. The Cabaret Grass is supposed to get as tall but be narrower. That one is a wider bladed striped grass, green with white streaks. ItÂs also a miscanthus sinensis but a variant. I think I will lay a soaker in this area to help get these plants established. I see beautiful grasses in lots of gardens but I really donÂt know how to integrate them into my current garden. Except for some older shrubs in my front yard everything is oriented toward flowers (except for heuchera and hosta). I have a large island bed in the front I am renovating: keeping the shrubs and working in new perennials. I have a huge old mugho pine at one end (easily 15 feet tall), toward the street, in between variegated weigelia (2), barberries (2), and some bronzy dwarf spirea at the opposite end and Palace Purple heuchera. There is a lot of color variation in the leaves, from solid green (the pine) to green and white, to purple, to bronze. Since I bought 4 grasses IÂm thinking about putting one of them here but I canÂt figure out where it would look good and which one. The pine casts a lot of shade so probably not right next to that.

Strawberries and Cream is the least invasive of the ribbon grasses. It is still a strong rhizome spreader, but don't rule it out in a contained area. It is not that difficult to manage if bordered, and certainly can be a great container plant. Of the grasses mentioned, I would not grow the Imperata cylindrica 'Red Baron' in your area. In NC, it is a class A noxious weed. Its green reversions can become extremely aggressive. In the red form, it is not so bad, but has been known to revert, particularly if the source is from Tissue Cultured production. United States: cogongrass Noxious weed Alabama: cogongrass Class A noxious weed California: cogongrass Quarantine Florida: cogongrass Noxious weed Hawaii: cogon Noxious weed Minnesota: cogongrass Prohibited noxious weed Mississippi: cogongrass Noxious weed North Carolina: cogongrass Class A noxious weed Oregon: cogongrass Quarantine1 South Carolina: cogongrass Plant pest Vermont: cogongrass Class A noxious weed I would say the same about Imperata as Phalaris...grow it where it is bordered. If it reverts to all green, dig it up and dispose of it.

I am planning to replace some extremely overgrown shrubs at the front of our house. The door is in the center of the house and there is a window on either side. There is about a 10 foot area on both sides of the door that I have to work with. This is on the east side so will get a lot of morning sun. What I am considering right now are vines on trellises on both sides of the door (have small porch). In front of the windows I am thinking about some sort of tall grasses and possibly butterfly bushes. I thought a clumping grass that grows fairly quickly would work nicely in this area. In front I will probably have some yuccas and flowers of some sort. I realize the plants will take some time to grow, but I can deal with this. I've never used ornamental grasses before but really like the way they look and there are so many I would like suggestions on which would work best. I want something that is a tad different from what all the neighbors have too.

Hi Heather, I too am in zone 5. My clumps of Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegatus' look like they are just beginning to get ready to bloom. Could be a week or two at this rate. As for trimming, go for it! I often trim back any leaning grasses, especially those that grow along pathways. Unless the shoot has broken or bent right over at the base you can often cut it off at about 2 or 3 feet and then it (they) can act as a natural girdle. A.