They have a flowering and a non-flowering clumping Guara. I love them both.Low water,very attractive.PJ

Here is a link that might be useful: gurara

I really like the Mexican Feather Grass and the Gulf Muhly Grass. There are so many really great grasses to choose from.

My favorite, and the one that led me to love grasses, is ruby grass (melinis nerviglumis). Mature, the grass is about 16 inches tall or so, and the fronds (seed pods) reach to about 2 feet. The foliage is green with a blue gray tint. The seed pods/flowers range from mauve to burgundy, depending on fertilizer and amount of rainfall. They are very drought tolerant, originating from Africa, and are also deer resistant, here. They bloom heavily in the spring and fall, an intermittently in the summer.

"Pink Crystals" Ruby Grass!

uh oh...something just occured to me. This is a fairly wet bed. Would that be a death wish for grass of any kind? You all keep mentioning drought-tolerant...

Well, I don't think extra water would hurt the ruby grass or gulf coast muhly. Mr. ubergreen is in the houston area and he likes ruby grass. They get a lot of rain there, right? I focus on drought tolerant because in central texas we generally don't get a lot of rain. But, when we do, the ruby grass just looks better, not worse.

Japanese blood grass is striking and needs water. But, I don't know how tall it gets or if it can be pruned to your desired height. Other than that, I don't know much about water loving grasses.

You might want to check out the ornamental grasses forum. I don't think there are too many people there from Texas, though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ornamental grasses forum

Trsinc--thank you for those ideas. I found out last night that there is a dwarf form of purple fountain grass called "Red Riding Hood." I bet I would LOVE that if I could find it, but I'm not so sure it would love a wet flowerbed, because I've seen "do not overwater" suggestions online.

I also found a couple other options. This one looks like the best with regards to both water conditions and height restrictions:

Here is a link that might be useful: Glyceria maxima 'Variegata' - Variegated Manna Grass

Gees, how wet is your bed? Is it near a pond? I really like the Glyceria maxima 'Variegata' - Variegated Manna Grass. The texture is really nice. I love the whole opposing texture thing. Hope you find the right one! Grasses are really neat once you get used to them. I used to hate them! lol. But now I really like them.

Japanese blood grass is very pretty if it gets enough water and only reaches 12-18 inches. It spreads by rhizomes pretty fast though, so I wouldn't consider it a clumping grass.

Lindseyrose, I have not researched it, but have heard of a grassy type of plant that might work for you. I don't even know how to spell it---Acorus?

Anyway, I believe it might be a type of sedge, technically, not a grass. But the variety I heard of seemed to fit your size requirement. And, I heard, it works in sun, or shade, or dry or wet.

So I'm glad for this thread because now I'm going to research Acorus!

Gulf Muhly stands as my favorite, though.

I had this growing in my yard when we bought the house, so I had to research Acorus. It's supposed to love being wet. Mine are in a fairly dry area and doing fine, anyway, in very heavy shade. My FAVORITE grass is Purple Muhly! I grew mine in a dry area, but according to this link, it will grow in a moist area.
http://www.floridata.com/ref/M/muhl_cap.cfm

Here is a link that might be useful: Acorus

Well, if I'm honest with myself, it's not so much a wet bed (no, it is not near a pond or any water source) as it is poor drainage. Over the years since this house was build, the beds and land around it have sort of sunk, and the sidewalk has as well. But in a drought, this bed is not going to be wet (unless I water it). but when it gets water, it stays wet for a long time under the surface. Last year I was considering putting a rose in there, but I dug a hole and filled it with water...it had not drained 2 days later. Before it could fully drain, it rained. Then a week later it rained again...it looked terrible having a big water-filled hole so I finally filled it back in, never able to see it actually drain completely. Since then the bed has remained unplanted, except for the old Reeve's spireas planted treacherously close to the house (touching it) at the back of the bed. Last night it occured to me, those spireas are probably the termite's ticket into my house. *sigh* And so, over 1 year after moving into this house, I still have an embarrassingly ugly bed because I am frozen with indecision due to the problems there. That's why I was thinking about sticking some medium heigh grasses right there in the front, then maybe putting a row of stepping stoned behind them, so I can get back to the spireas and prune as needed (they need their post-flowering trim now).