I am a little confused by your question :-) Purple fountain grass IS a summer season OG - will not winter over in zones below 8/9 - and there is really nothing similar with the same size and coloring. Purple millet is about the closest but much larger and lacking the soft, feathery flower plumes/seedheads.

Interesting. Purple Fountain Grass usually only appears in New England around this time of year with mums ans cabbages. I need something that is more green and has those tails for the summer.

Purple Fountain Grass is my favorite for large potted displays. It’s a summer annual in No. NV but worth the extra cost as it grows well and has colorful dramatic look. I see no reason you cannot plant in summer even if your zone isn’t the same.

I haven't ever grown it myself, but it looks like there are green Fountain Grasses, at least according to the intergoogle. These are just lovely plants though. Fun post!

"Purple Fountain Grass usually only appears in New England around this time of year with mums ans cabbages."

Are you sure it is purple fountain grass? Seems very odd that they would wait to sell a grass that will turn up its toes at the first sign of a good frost so late in the season!! Here, it is sold at the same time as summer flowering annuals or temperennials are, beginning in late spring.

Pennisetums are warm season grasses, meaning they need the heat of summer to put on growth and develop the seedheads. They begin to shut down as soon as the weather starts to turn cooler in fall and then die completely with a hard frost. Buying them now is just throwing $$ away!

"Purple Fountain Grass usually only appears in New England around this time of year with mums and cabbages."

The mums and cabbages freeze too. They all just freeze well and hold their form and some color reasonably well until it is time for a Christmas arrangement. The pennisetum is the mini dried corn stalks of fall decorating.

Hmmmm....mums do not hold their form and color here after a freeze and even without one, certainly do not continue to look good until Christmas!

Christmas decorating starts after Halloween these days. It's really just a matter of how long people can stand looking at the frozen things until they toss them over the deck into the shrubbery and go buy winter wreath stuff. Some people can last until spring. Mum balls hold their form very well after freezing.

Added: Put another way, none of them turn to slimy mush at the first freeze or even the first snow.

Alright, I get and appreciate all of the comments here but i think I should just rephrase my question is there a green version of purple fountain grass that stays aboit rhe same size and can be grown in MA in the summer?

The straight (green) species - Pennisetum setaceum - is considered invasive in many areas so have no idea how readily available that may be. I have never seen it sold.

I'd suggest looking at some of the cultivars of Pennisteum alopecuroides. Very popular and widely available, this LINK should help you select which might work best for your needs.