A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Purple Fountain Grass (Rubrum)

Last year I purchased purple fountain grass as a perennial. I live on Long Island in New York.
I planted the grass in my garden and cut it back in the fall to about 3-4 inches from ground. The grass looks as if it's dead, there is no sign of new growth. I looked at a few web sites and some say it is not a perennial here and some say it is. Will this grass come back? We had a mild winter. If it does come back, when should I see signs of new growth?

Got a picture of it??
That helps alot..

Also, can you tell us how you planted it?
ie: kind of soil, regular garden or a bagged?

Is it in the ground, a container??

Is it in full sun, shade?

Is it by a house foundation?

Did you use any fertilizers on it, if so,
what kind, and what was your schedule of using it?

And, I'm moving this to plants and flowers section,
I think you'll get a little more thru traffic for this question there..

P/S Welcome fellow New Yorker too, we have a few members here,
and we're glad you found us!!!

Purple Fountain Grass is only perennial in zones 8 and above. I live in zone 6b/7a and we usually have mild winters and mine have never returned. Maybe you'll have better luck.

Alan, have you ever tried putting it at
the base of your house?
I have a wonderful micro~climate at the base of mine..
I over winter common dahlia's there, and I am a zone 5....

That may very well be the cause of flower frenzy's grass not
coming back if it's not by the house and not the correct growing zone...

i live in zone 7B and it doesnt come back here. its sold as an annual here.

I have a lot of other out of zone plants that come back, like dahlias, elephant ears, glads, but not the purple fountain grass. Apparently, it just isn't very hardy.

welliwas given one ,bye afriend that lives in louisiana she said not to cut it back during the winter,and the leaves will go baclk to the purple
color.

This is one of my favorite annuals. I tried overwintering it in the greenhouse a couple of times and it didn't make it. I have resigned myself to buying it every year. It grows fast during the season and is a nice change from the other grasses.

Digital flower,
It has seeds, have you tried saving them and replanting a couple of different ways to see
which is easier for you and the seeds???

Annual here too! I love mine though--I will be buying some every year from now on!

I haven't thought of that before. Thanks for the tip.