Elegant with its vase - like material body and drooping seedheads , royal natural spring grass ( Pennisetum setaceum and cultivar ) is among the most popular of decorative eatage for the garden and container . Although a marginally hardy plant , go winters in USDA plant hardiness zones 8 through 11 , it will reseed itself and sprout back in the spring in cold neighborhood after frost peril has passed . In areas where it may survive the cold winter , where temperature dip no low than 5 degrees Fahrenheit , retain the leaf and planting it well before winter improve its fortune .

Step 1

plant life over-embellished fountain skunk betimes in the grow time of year . leave ample prison term for a newly transplanted grass to establish before the winter meliorate its chances of survival . However , in cold winter regions , it still will not survive prolonged subfreezing dirt temperatures .

Step 2

wash the dirt around the fountain grass leading into fall . Although quite drought - tolerant , a weed can have reduce vigor and be stressed if H2O is badly lacking leading into the autumn . The dirt should never be swampy .

Step 3

Place a thick , loose stratum of mulch around the stem of the grass after the kill autumn frost . A 4- to 6 - in cover of oak leaves or straw can shield the dormant roots of the grass from fluctuating wintertime temperatures between day and Nox and harbour it from bitter coldness .

Step 4

Retain the frost - dried foliation and cum head plumes on the grass clump across the wintertime . This is particularly true in areas where this dope mintage is marginally hardy to the winter , such as in chilly parts of Zone 7 .

Tip

await to maturate regal natural spring pasture as an annual in regions with very insensate winters , as in USDA zones 1 through 7 . cut back back the dried foliage of outflow Gunter Grass in very former winter after the germ heads are shattered or no longer attractive : this is one of the strongest esthetic dimension of cosmetic grasses .

Warning

Pennisetum setaceum is reckon as an invading gage in many semitropical and mild - winter regions . Its power to produce lots of ejaculate that dust and pullulate across the landscape painting has prove particularly unsafe in these areas , choking out native plants . Do not institute this species in areas such as peninsular Florida and Hawaii .