I am in search of seeds for this variegated northern sea oats grass. I was out shopping at our local nursery, spotted it and would have loved to have it, but not for the $24 they were asking. I would love to trade seeds or stamps with a sase if anyone has any. Please contact me and thanks for the consideration.

"Northern Sea oats out the wazoo." That must be painful, but it's better than having them coming out of your ears. They'll form multi-stemmed clumps in no time. While they're single-seed plants, look closely to see if there are any displaying unusual characteristics. Bigger leaves, smaller leaves, different color, more or less upright, etc.. It isn't likely with Chasmanthium, but it's possible you could find a 'sport' with unusual and desirable characteristics. With those which are normal, it's perfectly acceptable to speed up the clumping process by potting two or more single seedlings together. Simply wash off the old soil, cluster the root systems together, and pot them up.

SallyM: Just saw your posting and thought that I would make a very belated response. I live in northwestern Michigan and recently decided to add a few ornamental grasses to one of our garden areas. Having been a long fan and frequent visitor to the wonderful Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, MO, I went to their plant finder section, which is part of their Kemper Center for Home Gardening and did a "search" on "ornamental grasses" - you'll find this link under "plant type" when you use their search engine and scroll down a bit to plant type. At any rate, the link below will provide you with extensive and useful information on Chasmanthium latifolium, which is also apparently named "Inland Sea Oats". In reading their information in the "General Culture" section, they make the statement that this is "one of the more shade tolerant of the ornamental grasses. self-seeds and may become invasive." Despite that statement, I found a souce for this plant and have planted two of them at the edges of our patio. Since the garden area around our patio area is covered by a heavy plastic woven barrier, I doubt that I'll have serious problems with it. If by chance I do, I'll simply take out a trowel, a pruner or whatever and "tame" it. ;>) Besides, I believe that it will become a treasured gem in the garden. Manistee, MI is located on Lake Michigan and our winter temperatures are often moderated by the lake's water and so we are mostly located in USDA zone 6/5 - depending upon the severity of the winter. Since you might be interested in making use of the MBO PlantFinder's information, I have noted a few other links below regarding some of the plants and flowers that are being considered for inclusion in our garden or have been planted as to date. One of the plants (2 of them) that we planted in our garden this fall is Phlox paniculata 'Mount Fuji'. I've listed the informational link at the Missouri Botanical Garden below. If you look carefully, you will note several checked areas in several sections. I located this plant by simply using their search engine and checking a number of the characteristics that I wanted. In addition, you should also note that they offer a wide variety of local - for St. Louis gardener's - and online sources for the rest of us. Fortunately, I was able to locate this plant locally by just handing a print out of this page to one of our better local sources. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=E600 One of the peonies that I did consider placing in the garden this fall was Paeonia lactiflora 'Duchesse de Nemours', but choose instead to plant "Florence Nicholls", which I obtained from A & D Nursery. Here's the link to the two peonies. The first is to the Duchesse and the second is to Florence and the third link is to a photograph of Florence. Thought you'd enjoy!! http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=Q260 http://www.adpeonies.com/ (You'll have to scroll down at bit to find her. http://www.adpeonies.com/peonies/florencenicholls.jpg I mentioned both of these white peonies for another reason. I am using the "Chasmanthium latifolium" as a "dividng point" to separate the front of our patio garden from the sides. I just hope that the "design" in my head actually turns out just as well in reality. ;>) Hope you find these comments and this additional source of information more than useful in your gardening endeavors. Bill William Harrison, Librarian/Gardener/Photographer, etc. ;>) Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Botanical Garden - PlantFinder

No, it's not bamboo. I'm not sure what you're asking, since you already know it's scientific name and one of it's common names. It's a native grass that likes part shade to full shade, will tolerate poor drainage, but also tolerate drought, as I've seen it growing in the wild without any supplemental water. It was along a creekbank, but high enough on the bank that it didn't get a lot of benefit from the creek. It spreads aggresively by runners and seed, but may just be worth it. I finally got the nerve to plant some in my yard last year. I totally forgot about it, though. I guess I better see if it's still there. I hate it when I do that. Does that answer your question? I hope so. Sally