Ornamental grasses have become increasingly popular as modern tastes have shifted to more naturalistic garden designs. Grasses bring year-round interest, movement, structure and seasonal changes of palette that enhance every garden.
Unfortunately, several popular non-native grasses have escaped gardens to invade natural areas, where they can displace native species. Exotic grasses do not support wildlife in the same way native plants do, and recent studies point to invasive grasses’ potential to worsen wildfires and their effects.
Two common ornamental grasses to omit from the garden are Chinese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) and fountain grasses (Pennisetum).
, also known as zebra grass, porcupine grass or maiden grass, has many cultivars, including ‘Morning Light’, ‘Flamingo’, ‘Ghana’ and ‘Adagio’ among many others. Though some of these are advertised to be sterile, cross-pollination with other cultivars has been
