"want it Wednesday" the first: hardy red-foliaged ornamental grass

I've seen other bloggers do it, and I like it, so I may, as the mood strikes, use Wednesdays to feature stuff I want. Stuff you may want, too. So I hereby present:



Grasses are wonderful, when well-used. I think the South is a little behind in the use of grasses in our landscaping, despite the best efforts of Southern Living and other popular magazines to drag us kicking and screaming along with the rest of the country. The rest of the country already knows: grasses deserve a place in the landscape. They come in all sizes (from a few inches tall to towering way over your head), and make an excellent contrast to just about anything. Plop one in a pot as a centerpiece, surround it with, say, a coleus or two, a couple of flowering annuals, and some sweet potato vine spilling out over the side, and you've got yourself a knockout container for the summer.



My favorite grass is easily the purple fountain grass, Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum', pictured in all the photos here - it keeps its gorgeous dark red leaves from spring through fall. But unfortunately, it's not hardy here, so unless you have a greenhouse and want to bring it in each year, you'll be forever buying new plants in the spring.



But recently some great new cultivars of the hardy ornamental grasses have become available. I can't wait to try out Shenandoah Switch Grass, Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah', available from High Country gardens. The tips of the blades begin to turn red in mid-summer, and by fall the whole plant is a blend of reds and oranges.



Or maybe I'll start with 'Cheyenne Sky', a new and improved (and more compact) version of 'Shenandoah'. It tops out at 3' - perhaps a better size for pots, anyway.