first off.. you can do a lot of damage being out too early ... especially if you are walking in your beds.. making concrete out of your soil ... second.. if you have more than one.. experiment.. you are more likely to remember... if you try different methods.. third.. get down there.. and look to see if there are buds down low.. if so ... off with their heads ... all the power to the buds ... if you dont see them.. and your research already said to do it.. perhaps you are out too early ... but it wont matter.. just do it ... and really.. the name of the plant doesnt matter ... just about everything goes low in early spring .... [of which we will now get a list of those that shouldnt.. lol ... but i am devious that way .. lol ...] ken

Like garden phlox, mallows die back to the ground in winter... if they don't die altogether. They're very short-lived, which is why you want to let it set seed. Either way, you'll just have dry dead foliage above ground come spring, so cut it down either after the first hard frost or let the foliage stand until spring. I tend to leave mine standing until spring to help trap the leaves and snow for insulation, but I'm in a much colder climate than you.

Yes, mine are in a less than optimal spot and that is the reason they are still there..lol. I heard how difficult they were to move and I didn't want to lose a season of bloom because I waited three years actually to see bloom. I would advice anyone considering placing these in the garden to consider doing the best you can to site them right the first time and be willing to leave them there for a long time. They do really want full sun. I have them in afternoon sun from 11:30pm until about 4pm and the blooming has been less than what I am sure it can do. One plant in the same border, evidently gets a little less sun due to trees shading it a little sooner than 4pm and it didn't bloom at all. They also get pretty large and I have had to use support for mine or it is all over the surrounding plants. Maybe due to not enough sun as well? It is very pretty when in bloom and is up against my cream colored siding and that makes it pop too. Maybe next year after it blooms I will move it. [g]

Since spring starts officially next week, I'd say your timing is excellent :-) When I was in hort school, the instructor for the class on OG's drilled into us that cutting back of pretty much any OG can/should be done "late February/early March". I've cut back my miscanthus (and most other deciduous grasses) as low as I could easily - usually around 4-6 inches. Leaving it higher is optional. It does nothing to benefit the plant nor does cutting it lower detract from the plant. And it will not affect blooming - that is a factor of daylength and heat. Often, warm season grasses in cooler climates do not receive sufficient heat to develop flowerheads/plumes before frost cuts them back - this is very common with late blooming selections like Miscanthus 'Gracillimus'. Even in my zone 8 climate this is not a reliable bloomer because we have very mild summers. There are other selection of miscanthus that bloom earlier - you might want to seek them out.