Time to cut back the Miscanthus.

[Adam D]

I love Miscanthus, I really do.

I know they are not truly exotic, but I love their shape and form throughout the year!

Your one seems to have done very well Pete and that is a cracking shot of it with the beautiful blue sky in the background.

Mine seem to have put on a lot of foliage (because of the good June we had?) and then not done that much in terms of flowering because of the poor July and August we have experienced.

[simon]

I know they are not truly exotic...

To quote Wikipedia "Miscanthus is a genus of about 15 species of perennial grasses native to subtropical and tropical regions of Africa and southern Asia, with one species (M. sinensis) extending north into temperate eastern Asia." That sounds exotic enough to me.

My M. sacchariflorus was flowering early last year but no sign this year yet.


Pete, I like the look of that silberfeder. Is it a form of sinensis? how tall does it reach?

I planted a cosmopolitan this year and have been disapointed with it's growth rate. I expected it to shoot up to at least 6 ft. but it's still only a couple of foot tall. Perhaps it will do more next year. Any thoughts?

[Petefree]

Pete, I like the look of that silberfeder. Is it a form of sinensis? how tall does it reach?

It is a form of sinensis, Simon. I've had it for a few years and it clumps up quite quickly. On my sandy soil the flowers are at about 8 feet and the foliage probably about 6 (I suspect it may achieve greater height on a richer soil).

I got cosmopolitan last year and have also found it slow both to clump up and get any height - I think it will do okay but not as robust as some other varieties.

Pete

[Chad]

The variegated forms do 'sulk' for a couple of years after moving. RHS say Cosmopolitan has a leaf mass up to 2M with flowers to 2.2M in November. The same RHS trail described Cosmopolitan as the 'Most handsome of the variegated culitvars'.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/7EA9 ... thus04.pdf

Chad.