Ornamental Grasses - Quick Chart

Variety	Height	Shape	Bloom Time	Characteristics	Growing Conditions	Hardiness
Arundo - Striped Gaint Reed 'donax variegatus'	8'x10'	Upright	August-Sept.	Strong variegation, large specimen	Full sun/wet or dry	Z6
Calamagrostis - Feather Reed Grass aruncinacea �Karl Forester�	4'	Narrow	June-Sept.	stiff upright and early blooming	Sunny, dry locations but tolerates heavy clay soil	Z4-9
Chasmanthium - Northern Seas Oats latifolium	3�	Spreading	Late Summer	colonize in part shade with arching branches	Sun to shade wet or dry	Z5-9
Cortaderia - Pampas Grass sellonana �Pumila�	4-6�	Compact / Densely tufted	mid summer	for smaller grasses but just as dramatic	sun and dry soil	Z6 (with protection) - 10
Deschampsia - Tufted Hair Grass cespitosa	2�	Compact / Rounded	Summer/Long Blooming	delicate, airy and attractive	Cool season, sunny and moist to average soil	Z4-9
Erianthus - Plume Grass ravennae	9-12�	Specimen	Late Summer	silver-bronze inflorescence - hardy pampas like grass	Sun with dry conditions	Z6-9
Festuca - Fescue glauca �Elija Blue�	8-10�	Compact	Mid-Summer	very popular blue grass	Cool season, morning sun, well drained soil	Z4-8
Hakonechloa -Golden Variegated Hakone Grass macra �Aureola�	12-18�	Clumping and Arching	Summer	brilliant golden foliage streaked green for the shade	Part shade to shade, average to moist soil	Z6-9
Helictotrichon - Blue Oat Grass sempervirens �Sapphire�	2�	Robust Clump	Early Summer	best blue color with broader foliage	Fertile, well drained soil in sun	Z4-8
Imperata - Japanese Blood Grass �Red Baron�	18�	Slow Spreader	None	nice red coloration for part shade to full sun	Moist, fertile, sunny location	Z6-9
Koleria - Blue Hair Grass glauca	12-18�	Clumping	Early Summer	blue-gray foliage with airy felling		Z6-9
Miscanthus - Maiden Grass purpurascens	4-5�	Spreading Clump	Mid-Summer	reddish foliage turns deeper in autumn	Sun, well drained average soil	Z6-9
sinensis �Adagio�	4�	Wide Clump	Late Summer	thin silver foliage with large pink blooms turning to white	Sun, well drained average soil	Z6-9
sinensis �Dixieland�	3-4�	Dwarf Clump	Late Summer	M. variegatus in miniature, wide green leaves with white stripes	Sun, well drained average soil	Z6-9
sinensis 'Cabaret'	6�	Upright	Late Summer	an improved green and white variegated form with wider blades and stiffer habit	Sun, well drained average soil	Z5-9
sinensis �Gracillimus'	6-8�	Tall - Upright Vase	Mid Autumn	narrow leaves with blooms of bronze-red holding up well into winter	Sun, well drained average soil	Z5-9
sinensis �Morning Light�	4-5�	Tall Clump	Early Autumn	fine silver and green foliage for a delicate look and red to bronze inflorescence	Sun, well drained average soil	Z5-9
sinensis �Sarabande�	5-6�	Tall Clump	Early Autumn	fine silvery foliage with showy golden-copper plumes	Sun, well drained average soil	Z4-9
sinensis �Silberfeder�	6-8�	Tall and Open	Late Summer	Variegated, broad green leaves with white margins	Sun, well drained average soil	Z5-9
sinensis �Strictus�	5-6�	Upright and Wide	Late Summer	wide green blades with horizontal golden stripes	Sun, well drained average soil	Z6-9
sinensis �Variegatus�	5-7�	Upright	Early Autumn	Broad leaves with white margins	Sun, well drained average soil	Z5-9
sinensis �Yaku Jima�	4�	Broad	Late Summer	Silver plumes and reddish-brown fall color	Sun, well drained average soil	Z6-9
sinensis �Zebrinus�	6-8�	Tall	Mid Autumn	reddish blooms with light green foliage and horizontal yellow bands	Sun, well drained average soil	Z6-9
Molinia - Moor Grass caerulea �Variegata�	12-18�	Clump	Late Summer	graceful plumes smoother finely variegated foliage	Sun, well drained average to poor soil	Z4-8
litorialis �Skyracer�	7-8�	Clump-Airy Panicles	Late Summer	tall stems carry �see through� seed heads above cascading clump of foliage	Sun, well drained average to poor soil	Z5-8
Panicum - Switch Grass virgatum �Cloud Nine�	6-7�	Upright-Narrow	Mid-Summer	blue foliated with tall shoots of airy golden flowers	Sun, drought tolerant, average to poor soil	Z5-9
virgatum �Heavy Metal�	4-5�	Upright-Narrow	Mid-Summer	steel blue foliage and a very stiff habit	Sun, drought tolerant, average to poor soil	Z5-9
virgatum �Shenadoah�	3�	Upright-Shorter	Mid-Summer	showy bright red foliage and slower growing	Sun, drought tolerant, average to poor soil	Z5-6
Pennisetum - Fountain Grass alopecuroides	3-4�	Arching Clump	Mid-Summer	showy, soft inflorescence carried above delicate foliage for a long bloom period	Sun, well drained to dry soil	Z5-9
alopecuroides �Hameln�	1.5-2.5�	Arching Clump	Mid-Summer	dwarf version of above	Sun, well drained to dry soil	Z6-9
alopecuroides �Moudry�	2-3�	Cascading Clump	Autumn	black plumes are stiffer and blades are wider	Sun, well drained to moister soil	Z6-9
orientale �Karley Rose�	3�	Upright-Clump	Summer	very soft plumes are smokey rose in color all season long	Sun, well drained to dry soil	Z6-9
setaceum �Rubrum�	3-4�	Upright - Flowing	Summer	purple leaved with rich tan blooms on a prolific annual bloomer	Sun, well drained soil, feed regularly in a container	Z9-10
setaceum �Eaton Canyon�	2�	Compact - Flowing	Summer	1/4� blades with reddish-purple plumes - half the size of P. �Rubrum�	Sun, well drained soil in small gardens	Z9-10
Schizachyrium (Andropogon) - Little Bluestem scoparius �The Blues�	2-3�	Upright Clump	Late Summer	blue foliage with hints of burgundy and pink in spring and fall	Sunny, dry locations	Z3-9
Sorghastrum - Indian Grass nutans �Sioux Blue�	4-6�	Stiff Upright	Mid-Summer	bright blue foliage and attractive seed heads	Sun to part shade, drought tolerant	Z4-9
Stipa - Feather Grass tenuissima	2�	Vase Shaped Clump	Early Summer	very silky blades and flower heads	Sunny, dry location	Z6 (with protection)-9

Helpful Links

http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4DMG/Lawns/orna.htm (10 pages of pics and descriptions)

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07232.html (table for growing conditions)