Yes, I grow it - I am in Central Europe, you will read about the climate in my "my page" description.

This grass doesn't get out of control in my garden because I have poor, dry soil. In my sister's garden, which has much deeper and more fertile soil (but also not wet) it spreads a bit faster. It doesn't form a dense bush in dry conditions - it doesn't crowd out other small plants but sort of grows along with them. I have no idea how it would behave in moister soil which it seems to prefer. It does spread by rhizomes which resemble tough cords, hence the name.

It is said to rarely bloom here but it did bloom for me last summer, I had several blooming stalks. It needs sun and a long summer to bloom.

It looks very pretty in the wind, the leaves are very long. I grow the variety Aureomarginata, which has thin yellow stripes along the leaves. It also transplants easily, last year I transplanted it to a new bed when it was almost 2' tall and it grew AND bloomed the same year.

I'm in the midwest in zone 5 - I have the species. Once established it can spread fast which is fine if you give a large area to spread.

It spreads by rhizomes - it's difficult to control by digging up in a small area so best to give a large space that can accomadate it's size.

It's a very beautiful elegant grass but care needs to taken when cutting back - wear leather gloves as the leaf surface has the texture of sandpaper and the new growth is as sharp as needles.

Some good native companian plants which aren't bullied by it are Red Milkweed (Asceplias rubrum), Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra), and Canadian Anenome (Anenome canadensis)

I also grow this and am quite fond of it. I have mine as a specimen plant in the middle of the lawn with a brick border. I can see it having the potential to be out of control which is why I moved it from its original spot in a border. Late last summer I did some root pruning - cutting out the runners before they took hold- and they were fairly easy to dig out, perhaps because the runners hadn't yet formed strong roots. I have it growing in rather dryish soil and it does just fine.

Mine is 3 or 4 years old from seed and aside from the 1st year, it has bloomed every year. It's a very strong grass, and gets to be about 5' tall for me. In my climate the big grasses aren't the easiest to grow (like the miscanthuses) and if they do grow bloom too late so the Spartina is a good fit for my yard.