Purple fountain grass

Purple fountain grass is the tall thing in a summer pot. Arching burgundy blades and soft pink bottlebrush plumes catch every bit of wind and afternoon light. It grows fast, takes heat and drought, and deer leave it alone. Nothing else gives a planter three feet of movement by July from a plant that small in April.

In the Upstate

It is hardy only in zones 9 to 11. NC State classes it as an annual, and Clemson says it is grown as an annual throughout South Carolina. An Upstate winter kills it, and a pot makes that more certain, not less. Plant it from mid-April once frost is past. It is at its best in August and September when the plumes are full, then the first hard frost in November browns it. You can leave the dry clump in the pot for winter texture, but it will not come back in spring.

In a container

It is the height in the pot, 3 to 5 feet tall and nearly as wide by late summer, so give it a large container and put it in the center or back. It wants full sun and good drainage. Water deeply when the top two inches of mix are dry. It does not need swapping mid-season, and it is one of the few plants that looks better in September than in June.

Care

Water deeply and less often. Feed with a slow-release at planting and leave it alone. No trimming needed until it browns. One caution from NC State: the species is weedy, self-seeds, and is considered invasive in parts of the West, so cut the plumes before they shatter if you have a bed nearby. The one thing that kills it is winter, and the second is a pot that stays wet in a cool spring.