Thanks, donn, I'll do that. But I'm not just interested in acquiring plants for my own gardening. I'm interested in seeing if anyone has succeeded with this grass in the north. And if so, perhaps getting hardier forms into commerce. It's a warm season grass, so I'll have to seek divisions in the spring, if I get any offers. Thanks, Don

I'd go for the Switchgrasses because except for a couple months after trimming in spring, they are ornamental all year. Look them up and check out the different cultivars. They sway in the slightest breeze, are easy to cut back in spring, bloom early so you get those great seed heads with the sun coming through them for a very long period and they stay upright in winter. The best ones (I think) are Heavy Metal and Northwind. For fall color, there are the red ones but in my mind they aren't as pretty in summer. Too much moisture makes some of them flop but these two I mentioned never seem to. Seeding is minimal. Another good one is Muhlenbergia lindheirmerii. Tall, blueish and thick. Santa Rosa Gardens carries it along with several Panicum (switchgrass). Those 4" pots quickly grow into gallon size. I planted a row of Sacaton wrightii from seed I purchased from Plants of the Southwest. It has great seed heads all summer into fall and is one of the best for that, they seem to glow. Its a very large grass but would take two seasons from seed to see results. Indian grass is only ornamental in fall. Same with Big Bluestem. I would not count on them to carry the show. Little Bluestem is a much better choice for being decorative over a long period IMO. Look at High Country Gardens website. They have that 'Flamingo' Muhly and Muhly riverchonnii (Oklahoma native) too. Those are both great grasses and very decorative, the 'Flamingo' has slick, metallic blue, rolled leaves, so its just gorgeous for color contrast even without the pink blooms. Neither of these seem to seed at all unless you get lucky.

The rocks in my soil would make quick work of that Auger. No gentle fill out here. A friend came over with an 12' wide augur attachment on a sizable tractor to dig some holes to sink in some tall 4x4for my 7' garden fence. and had to give up. I then had it completed by a friend with a jack hammer. I would have to bring in some garden soil to use that kind of garden tool. I have used some 2" spade bits and they seem to work until I hit a rock. Planting trees in the valley is all about finding a crack in the rocks and jimmying them apart to insert the small seedling tree. So far the ones I planted in september are still alive. Sunnysa , I am jealous of your soil and your tool . What kind of bulbs are you planting for the spring.I am looking forward to the massive amounts of the wild onion . I saw them waking up when I was digging around. They only wake up on the wet winters. I have about a hundred seedling rain lilies that I sprouted and they are ready to go in the ground. I have a two" spade bit that would do them in the ground in the hollow, I don't need to go very deep and I actually have washed down soil there.. Thanks for reminding me of the tool. Right tool for the job saves gobs of time.

Hey, Kim, is that Deuterochonia brevifolia? I got one of those a few years ago at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (they have extremely reasonable prices), after seeing an old plant of it there, of course. Not hard to grow (I keep mine dry in winter), but not fast -- steady as it goes. Love the bright green flowers and its texture and sculptural character. No such regulations here in Livermore, either for fire resistance or drought tolerance, but the city did offer incentives for people to convert at least part of their lawns to water-thrifty landscape during the last drought, and people are doing that on their own after the last water rate hikes, anyway. As we are only surrounded by semi-arid grassland, for miles, not woodland, forest, or chaparral, I don't think our city would contemplate regulations like that.