Mailorder ornamental grasses...Size matters!

I'm in Austin, Texas, and grasses are really catching on here, but nurseries are stuck on maiden grass, the smaller pampas, our native Mexican and purple fountain grass. I'm looking for unusual miscanthus sinensis...like 'Gracillimus,' 'Sarabande,' 'Yaku Jima,' 'November Sunset' and 'Flame.' I especially want some that turn red/orange in the fall OR have plumes that are red or another color other than the tan/wheat color.

I'd like to order some I've seen online or through mailorder, but the companies never say what size plant I'll get other than to tell the pot size. I've bought some grasses here in Austin in one-gallon pots that whose "clumps" at the base (what is the technical word for this?) are about the size of a quarter, and other that were twice or three times as large. Is there a way to tell what one will get when ordering?

Thanks!
Connie

If you've found companies online that have it, have you tried emailing their customer service to ask the actual height of the plant?

Smaller grasses transplant better, they will all catch up in size, as they grow quickly. Try Little Zebra, it has reddish plumes held high above the 2-3 foot tall clumps of yellow banded foliage.

Thanks to both of you. Idiopath...would the actual height correspond to the "girth" (? is that the correct terminology?) of the plant? I've seen some grasses that had just been divided and were tall but there was not that much to them! And Prairie...I'll look in the plant files for Little Zebra...sounds like something I could use with my color scheme (purples, oranges, greens--natch--and chartreuse).

Oh that's my garden too, LOL, it would look great! ;-)

Oh, you're right, the height wouldn't necessarily correspond to the size of the base. But PrairieGirl has a good point. Grasses do tend to grow very quickly, so I wouldn't worry so much about the size of the plant, as long as it's healthy.

I'd be interested to see what you end up getting and how it does here in Austin, if you don't mind posting an update at some point.

Prairie ... Please send me pics (or tell me where to view) of your garden! I haven't met anyone yet who has that same color scheme! My husband is always pointing out light pink or yellow plants and I keep reminding him that we just want vibrant colors --the ones I mentioned. It's difficult, but I think it will look great...AND different! AND the chartreuse is fun to look for!

Idiopath...I will post when I get them (the grasses). I attended the Wildflower Center's Garden Tour last weekend and WOW...one of the houses had the Flame Miscanthus that I want!!! I need to call Big Red Sun and see if they can get it for me too!

And...are you interested in attending the Nursery Tour that's coming up in June here in Austin? Go to the Texas Gardening forum and see the thread I started that tells about it. I think the header is "Nursery Tour"...or something like that.

Connie - I don't have anything blooming right now, it's more of a late summer and fall garden, since that's when I put most of it together, LOL. So it's really new, and I'm planning to rework a lot of it, if it ever stops raining here! Now that you mention it, I need chartreuse! Have you seen Sweet Kate tradescantia? What else chartreuse do you have?

Connie - Thanks for the invite. I looked at the thread, and it sounds like fun, but it looks like it's going to be on a weekday. That's out for me - I'll need to be at work. I already have most of my vacation days scheduled already.

Prairie...Thus far, I only have two plants that are yellow/green, so perhaps they are not really chartreuse. They are a potato vine in a pot, and a Bonanza Barberry (sp?). But I love the contrast of the yellowish greens against the purples...both the blues and the burgandies. My color scheme thus far is just a plan, but I have planted some Cordylanes and blood grass in the front, and purple verbenas to cascade off the stone. (I teach school and have one more week before I get to spend about 10 hours a day in the garden to get it finished! I can't wait!!

Idiopath...I think we are going to do another Nursery Tour on a weekend....stay posted!

I like that sweet potato vine too! But I picked up creeping jenny 'Aurea' for my pots this year. I also like that barberry. Have you seen the spireas Goldmound and Goldflame, they have metallic pink flowers, people seem to either love them or hate them, LOL. My daughter's last day of HS is next Friday, wow, I can't believe it's almost here! She graduates on June 2nd. What subject/grade do you teach? My son starts kindergarten in the fall. Here we go again! :0)

Prairie.

Wow...you have it all to do again! Well, it will keep ya young! I teach 9th GT / Pre-AP English. I love it! --have all the stuff I need in files but of course am always reinventing the wheel...I guess I don't like it when I'm not busy!

I would love to try the Goldflame but I'm not doing pinks, unless they are HOT, HOT, HOT! :) Not doing reds unless they are orangy.

Here's a pic of my blood grass, which is really glowing fast!!

Connie

And here is the newly ubiquitous (here in Austin, at least!) purple fountain grass that I planted on the next level.
I'm looking for miscanthus sinensis that turns red/orange/burg, in the fall....any suggestions as to which one keeps its color? I don't want one that reverts!

I have Rotsilber (red silver grass), and there is one specifically called flame grass, miscanthus sinensis var. purpurascens, but none are are as colorful as the annual (here) purple fountain grass. They're a little orangey at best, the only way to get the effect you see in photos is to have them backlit by the sun. They're also effective planted en masse, about twice as close as you have those others planted, seems to make them glow more. I think what you have is spectacular, with the phormiun and all, you picked a couple of real winners! You've never seen spirea in flower? It's pretty hot, some say clashy, I love that. To each his own right? Today I started to re-work my front garden. I'm replacing a lot of grasses with an inkberry hedge, moving the Rotsilber to a little berm on the front corner of the property. I haven't decided yet what else to plant with it. But I have some purple asters that I want to move, so maybe I'll pair those with Blackberry lily? and some other flowers. In my front garden, I'm using feather reed grass, Pardon Me daylilies, Paprika yarrow, Fanfare blanket flower, Purple Emperor sedum, and maybe Limelight heuchera. Well, I just bought some lady's mantle, but I'm not sure if they can take the hot sun of a western exposure, so I may look for a the heuchera. For the purple, I have some East Friesland sage. I'll send a picture when I'm done.

Prairie...I'll be glad when I can rattle off all those plant names like you do!! About 25 years ago I was really into plants...even started a Master Gardeners' class here in Austin...then I had kids!! ha...and now I'm really getting "into" it again! It's addictive!

I need to add evergreen shrubs out front and am thinking of....(have to remember the deer) dwarf yaupon or an olive bush called "Little Ollie." I love the compact shape of the dy but DH likes the Little O. that we saw recently. I like the compact to juxtapose the looseness of the grasses and other things I've planted. Any ideas?

Connie - Those are the names of the cultivars I have, but I'm learning the Latin as well. I am a horticulture student, it's something I love to learn about. I'm not a Master Gardener, far from it, I'm just starting out. This is only my second year, after a late start last year. Oh, I've dabbled, but never given it serious consideration. I don't know what I would suggest, as far as evergreens go, for your climate is very different from mine. I have found DG to be a great resource, maybe you should ask on the Trees & Shrubs forum? I ask questions all the time.

Ok...I found some of the grasses I've been looking for today here in Austin at the Redbarn Nursery! I got...
Miscanthus Sinensis Purpurascens (4 in 5-gal tubs) and 7 tiny ones in 1 quart paper tubs. I'm going to plant Monday after school....hope the weather is good.

I also bought 1 Mis. Sin. Gracillimus (SP?) and 3 others that are lighter green with PINK blades mixed in . I can't remember what the guy said they are called but the name has 'pink' in it. Does anyone know what it is? It may not be a miscan. sin....

(Still looking for the others that turn red/purple/rust in the fall.)

Thanks in advance!
Connie

Prairie...I'm D-mailing you about the Mis. Sin. Pur. I bought today.

Hey Connie--I'd like to know the name of that grass also.

My hubby visited a Home Depot last Saturday and brought me a pot of it home. Same size, sticker, pot, appearance and everything as in your pic. I asked him what it was and he said it wasn't labeled so he didn't know, but it was inexpensive, so he picked it up. Sigh. I do admit that it looks great as a companion plant to the purple fountain grass, whatever it is.

We also are growing some blood grass for the first time this year. Looking forward to it's fall colors.

Kenya

How tall is that grass? My little bluestem has pinkish blades, then it turns a brilliant blue, then it fades to all pink, then it flowers and turns pinkish tan for the winter. It's shown here to the left of the lamp-post.

p.s. Don't worry, I'm re-doing the front bed, it doesn't look like that mish-mash anymore.

I just re-read your post Connie. If the name has "pink" in it, surely it is pink muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris), another native! Here's a link I found, sure hope this what you got!

http://www.waysidegardens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=48052&PrevMainPage=toptenpage&scChannel=Top%20Ten%20Perennials&OfferCode=S3H

I can't get a good look at the grass blades in any internet pictures of the Pink Muhly to determine if this is what hubby brought me. If it is, WOW, can't wait for it to bloom! I'll keep researching though...

Okay...I researched it and found out its common name is 'Pink crystals.' Its flower things (I think they call them infloresences-- misspelled I'm sure!!...) are pink! Well, the guy who sold me the grass didn't say anything about that, so I'm stuck with them and pink is not in my color palate...at least for the next 5 years or so!!

I found miscan. sin. Karl Foerster at Lowe's yesterday for a great price for a 1 gallon tub and some already have the blooms (infloresences?) on them! They turn a beautiful rust color in the fall.

I also planted some of my miscan. sin. purpurascens. yesterday..hope it survives the deer!

Connie - They would go great with your purple fountain grass! They're not pink like geraniums, it's more of a pinkish plume. Here's a picture I found of Savannah, the botanical name is Melinus nerviglumis. Yours might not be a cultivar, so maybe not as pink?

http://www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/Melinus.html


p.s. Did you notice the foliage changes to red in the fall?

This message was edited May 25, 2006 12:45 PM

Wow...if that's what I bought then I'm happy! Mine was called 'pink crystals' however, so it may be a different cultivar? I would have loved the ruby color...hmmm...now I"m confused. It will be fun in the fall to see what turns what color. I'm finding discrepancies in the nurseries' descriptions of various grasses...I guess because some of them are so new!

Tomorrow I have to work 1/2 day and then it's WORKING in the GARDENS for the remainder of the summer!~

Prairie...I can't wait to see your pics!

Guess what!? I found Savannah at HD today. I'm so excited. I'm going to put it in the center of a container planting, I just need a container...LOL I'll post pics when I'm done, this year I'm trying to color coordinate the plantings. So far, I have a lot of yellow and purple, with a little bit of orange. With chartreuse and black vines. ( I could re-combine the orange and black for Halloween, LOL) I think Pink Crystals is pretty much the same as Savannah, but I could be wrong. I plan to use it with orange and purple and chartreuse, and hope I can give it enough sun on my rather shady deck.

I'm so excited that I found you...with the same basic love for oranges, purples, chartreuse, etc. What fun to be able to share "finds" in our color scheme! I just bought some "lion's tail" (sherbet-type orange) yesterday, but I've been reading up on it, and it's almost a tropical, so I guess I'll plan on collecting the seeds and replant each year if we get a hard freeze.

Connie,

They have a good pick of the pink crystals.

http://www.bigdipperfarm.com/cgi-bin/searchstuff.pl

Thanks! I actually found a good source for CHEAP pink C. here in Austin and bought about 10 of them...they are just starting to bloom and are so beautiful!!!

Thanks...Connie