I've tried overwintering it an unheated garage, but it's never worked, so I hope someone will tell us how to do it.

I really have to laugh when well-meaning friends point to it and say "be careful, that stuff's invasive". It's worth buying it every spring, just for that.

DTD, did you cut it back first or not? Did you water it at all during the winter? When did you put it in the garage--Nov? Dec? I am obsessed with making this work.

ginny,
Lets all give this a try, I have three one I was planning on bringing inside in a planter with coleus, another I was going to put in an unheated dark garage and the third I was going to try in an unheated room but in front of a south facing window. My soil typically does not freeze hard until the third week in December so perhaps I will bring in the coleus indoor planter before the first light frost, bring in the darkened garage prior to the end of October, and the south facing window the first week in December. I'll let you know. kt

One of my garden friends wintered this over sucessfully by keeping it alive all winter but in a cold spot-maybe 55 F. Based on her success my money is on kt's unheated room with a south facing window.

Sue

It'll need light. South facing window will work. Don't let it get below 50degF. I did one cut back and one not. The "not" one did better. I wonder if the roots need the foliage for energy like a bulb?????? Did cut it back after the grass shriveled. Also pulled all the seed heads (beautiful in arrangements) to let the roots have more energy. It's iffy, but worth the try.

Mart

Mine was in an unheated and very drafty garage - lots of other tender perennials survived there last year (for a change) but not the grass. I didn't cut it back, and I watered it .. 3 times or so.

I basically have no other choice for overwintering anything, and I use the garage more to save the terra cotta pots than as a sincere attempt to keep the plants. Anything that survives is a bonus.

This plant apparently may self-sow, according to NCSU, so maybe I'll see if I can catch some seeds this fall. It's hardy to zone 9, so if we wait a few years ...

I wonder about winter sowing seeds of it? I know Donn over on the winter sowing forum, experiments a lot with grasses. I was surprised to learn that cannas and dahlias can be started from seed every year. Some dahlias..maybe the dwarfs? That might be an alternative, if wintering over doesn't work out. Good luck! :-)

a v. knowledgable local gardener once told me to plant this penn in all sand and it would come back. i'm z. 5 and it didn't work for me, but maybe you warmer folks -it might work for. this is, of course, advice for next year.

another friend successfully overwinters her penn. villosum(another annual) by putting its pot into an unheated attic by a window, w/ minimal water.

best, mindy

I have tried the unheated garage and concur... no luck..even packed in styrofoam peanuts.

I have a basement flourescent light setup that I use for overwintering. I don't think I've ever tried PFG there. I should have room for one this year because all my plecanthrus are goners. They took up a lot of room.

However, I don't spend too much for these in the spring. I seem to always find some in Walmart or H.D. in a 4" pot for super cheap, like $3-4.

As a matter of fact I was just thinking that next year I should find a spot for one in a perennial border. They would add a lot.

I'm in the pic for scale. This was taken yesterday morning.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:177480}}

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I also did a search on the ornamental grass forum. What I found out was that this grass is hardy only to zone 9, the warmest and most southerly parts of the US. Therefore there is no way it is going to be happy in my nice chilly garage.

Therefore too, it is unlikely to go completely dormant, a suspicion lent credence by Martie's experience. Her cut-back plant did not survive; the one allowed to keep its foliage did.

People on the other forum have had trouble overwintering this. A few have succeeded by basically duplicating Florida-South Texas conditions. Warm winter temperatures and light. They have had greenhouses or greenhouse-like conditions in a room in their homes. I don't have either.

I don't think this is gonna work for me, kids. Rats.

Newbie here - wondering about bringing the PFG inside the home. I'm trying to find information on this. Will this not work as well? I was debating as to what to do with it. Right now it's on the south side of my home (lots of sun), in between two houses, lots of trees around the perimeter (i.e. - low winds) and it's close the the foundation - is there any chance in he** that this might survive a winter if I cut it back and pack straw or mulch heavily around it? Or is there anyway this can be potted and brought inside? I'm also wondering the same about my Canna. It's been in a pot all summer and I want to bring that in as well. Can this be done?
I would love to have both these plants potted and in my home for the winter. I've got a nice sunny spot on the south side of my house and I have steam heat for the winter.

If you read the posts on this thread, you will see your questions answered.

I did read through the post and only posted my question because the entire thread here was on wintering in a garage, basement, etc. I was trying to ask about placing it in my home to grow over the winter - not a cold garage, but thanks for the helpful advice. I'm glad to see this forum is one of the more friendly ones.

If you read the Aug. 31 post by martieinct, you will see the answer to your question about wintering indoors in a window. And yes, the New England forum has always been friendly and helpful. We are glad you found the forum.

Lisasha: Though not an expert on canna, what I usually do is let it get bitten by frost once, cut it down, and store the tubers. I wouldn't expect it to last with good foliage all winter, it's just not how the plant "works."

And yes, you can overwinter P. rubra indoors, but know that it will die down with short day length (when we only get a few "real" hours of direct sun each day) and will resprout in spring when the day length gets longer. Be sure to check it for bugs rather frequently. I give mine a good shower every few weeks and use a dilute fertilizer right after that.

Again, overwintering this is iffy. It needs to be in near perfect indoor conditions, but it can be done with a bit of TLC. Don't be disappointed if it doesn't work. It is definitely happier in the ground outside. As Wendy said, it's easily replaced in the Spring.

Martie

HI there, I popped in here this morning and thought I'd add to this post. Last year I dug up my Pennisetum rubrum, pruned the top to about eight/ten inches then did some root pruning, rinsed all the soil off the roots (don't want to bring any bugs in) repotted it then put it under my grow lights in a cool 60ish room for the winter. I'd also divided it into four pieces and all four pieces came back and are looking good. The smaller pieces took a very long time to get any size this year so this year I'm not going to divide the clumps and see how it goes. They took a long time to get any new growth on them but that was OK with me because I don't have room for a large grass under the lights. I think I've got a picture of the butchered grass from last NOvember someplace. I'll look it up.

Deanne

regarding small pieces taking a long time to get any size... I have found that if I put small plants in right-sized smallish pots, they stay small. If I put small plants in oversized larger pots, they grow quicker to fill the pot. This doesn't apply to all plants of course, but I have seen it consistently with coleus and PFG. Obvious risk of overwatering in the early stages. And totally doesn't apply if in the ground!!!

This month's issue of Fine Gardening has a pretty good article about the 3 methods of overwintering tender plants: cold and dark, cold and brightly lit, and warm and brightly lit. It lists some common tender plants and which way they should be treated; fountain grass isn't on the list, though, and the salvias are all grouped together (not very helpfully!).

1) WOW martie, no fair!! looks like you're in the PNW with that grass height!!

2) deanne, I can't believe you had success with that method- it seems so harsh, washing the soil off and repotting! but i'm agonna try it, without the dividing, and under lights.
3) i'm gonna try martie's sunlight method too. i spend easily $100 on these ev. yr and place them throughout the gardens, so overwintering success would be invaluable!

4)lisasha- when you bring in your cannas, just put the whole clump, or pieces, in a bin or milkcrate and stick in the basement in the dark like dahlias. this is my new method, after i bothered with peat moss bins for yrs and warren leach explained this no-fuss way, which worked great for me last yr.
best,
mindy

Mindy, here is a photo of my pennisetum on November 11 of last year.

Deanne

Here is a link that might be useful:

Mindy -- Good to "see" you!! I finally figured out why my plants were so large this year -- treat'em like they're in Z5 when they're in Z6!! LOL. Actually, living on a lot that used to be farmed doesn't hurt.

I'm going to dry Deanne's method, too, as I have enough overwintering tenders to make the electricity bill worth it :-)

Martie

Ginny,
Thought I would report that my dark garage sample died quickly, the sample that I brought inside died quickly as well, and to be honest I never got the third sample to it's destination....all three dead...oh well try again next year. kt

Thanks for that report, kt. Guess I'll be back at the nursery buying a new one this year. But it'w worth it in the long run. They are lovely plants.

I know this has been debated to death, but thought I would ask as I'm new here. I have a purple fountain grass that I tried to over winter, by trimming back and moving inside. Now it even got green shoots into early winter then nothing. I have moved it outside again (bring it in at night). I'm wondering HOW DO YOU KNOW when it is truly dead?? It seems to have a great root system ?? I mean how do you tell before I pitch it and start again. I LOVE this plant.

I dumped mine, which I'd cut back and kept in a coolish, fairly bright back hall over the winter. Actually, I didn't dump it, I moved it into a big plastic pot that I can keep out of sight. Bought another, and have decided it was worth the 4 or 5 bucks since the new one looks so good - MUCH better than a dead one!

From rereading the thread, it looks like this plant does not really want to go dormant, so if yours has died back, tinayaya, it's probably really dead.

What a surprise to see this thread resurrected. And it is full of useful info. There can't possibly be another method someone on this forum hasn't tried.

As I only need one, I just bite the bullet and buy a new one each year. I am amazed at how huge they get when I have seen them in Southern climes. So maybe I don't really want to keep one going, even if I could.

Also, these used to be fairly uncommon and more expensive than they are now, so I don't feel as badly about buying a new one each year. Just apain in the neck.