Fountaingrass

Like so many grasses, this one is spectacular when backlit by the rising or setting sun. Named for its especially graceful spray of foliage, fountaingrass also sends out beautiful, fuzzy flower plumes in late summer. The white, pink, or red plumes (according to variety) continue into fall and bring a loose informal look to plantings. This plant self-seeds freely, sometimes to the point of becoming invasive.

Light:

Sun

Zones:

6-11

Plant Type:

Annual, Perennial

Plant Height:

10 inches - 5 feet tall, depending on variety

Plant Width:

1-4 feet wide, depending on variety

Bloom Time:

Blooms summer and early fall, depending on variety

Landscape Uses:

Containers, Beds & Borders, Slopes, Groundcover

Special Features:

Flowers, Attractive Foliage, Fall Color, Winter Interest, Cut Flowers, Dried Flowers, Attracts Birds, Drought Tolerant, Deer Resistant, Easy to Grow

Top Varieties

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Perennial fountaingrass

(Pennisetum alopecuroides) makes neat but dense 2- to 5-foot clumps of 1/2-inch-wide leaves that turn golden in fall and persist into the winter. The bottlebrush panicles of spikelets (flowers) arise in late summer, silvery white maturing to bronze according to variety. Zones 6-9
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Purple fountaingrass

(Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum') makes mounds of purplish red leaves. Erect red stems carry 1-foot long, arching pink to reddish purple panicles of spikelets from midsummer through fall. It's usually grown as an annual, though it is perennial in Zones 8-11.
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