I am so haooy to see a thread on ornamental grasses. i love them and two decades ago i think i must have grown most of them. i settled on just a few favorites. I’m a Californian with a long growing season and most became too vigorous for my small garden. i winnowed down most of them so I’m growing just a few now. ive also been bitten by the Doug Tallamy ethic which is to plant natives to my area. That eliminated almost all of my grasses, including my favorite Pennisetum ‘Hameln’.

iMy favorite grass is Pennisetum alopecuroides ’Hameln’. i like it because it has the most graceful fountain shape and it keeps its good looks until i cut it back the end of January when it usually starts growing in my zone. I have grown the species and a lot of cultivars and ’Hameln’ is best for me, mainly because of its smaller size than the species, I’ve never seen any seedlings.

My second favorite grass is Panicum ’Heavy Metal”. I havent grown many of the Panicum cultivars because I have been so happy with ’Heavy Metal’ so i have not bothered to experiment, if i could find one of a similar size and growth habit to ’Heavy Metal’ that also had a lot of red color into winter, I could be tempted away. Like Hameln it lasts beautifully through the winter and ive never seen any seedlings.

My third favorites are several: Bouteloua ’Blonde Ambition’, Schizachyrium scoparium ’Blue Heaven’ and ‘Standing Ovation’.and Muhlenbergia dubia.
I do have some questions about Bouteloua ‘Blonde Ambition’ mainly because I haven’t grown it for very long. I am in love with its flowers but not so much the foliage. It doesn’t have the lovely fountain shape nor does in stay beautiful all winter like my favorite Pennisetum does. Is it well suited to be a specimen grass? Or is it better suited to massing as a meadow grass? Also, whixh companion planta do you like to plant with ir. i like Penstemon and Echinacea and Agastache. What else?