To answer all of your questions and concerns would fill this web page to the brim.

Nurseries in our area sell plants that are very suspect for the zone we live in yet they have plenty of plants available that are well suited for our zone.

Plants in containers, in my experience, are better than sowing seeds. If you are concerned about invasiveness of ornamental grasses then read about the grasses that you wish to plant and then purchase those that are more contained and controllable.

We have never cut the bottom off a container and planted the container. Knowing some growers that have done this their stories as told was the grasses eventually grow out the bottom and sprouted outside the pot.

Yes the grasses were controlled for a period of time but ....!

Ornamental grasses in general, not all grasses but most, like to be abused. This being less water than most other perennial plants.

There are early or cool season grasses and warm season grasses. Cool meaning they start their growth in the early spring and bloom early summer. Some of these grasses will stay attractive throughout the season while others will look spent.

Warm season grasses start their growth when the temperature gets warmer or more into late April early May. The warm season grasses will bloom late summer throughout the fall.

Now addressing the "bright" colors your statement leaves me a little confused as there are no real yellows, blues, purples, reds or oranges that can be associated with grasses as these colors are associated with perennials and annuals.

Grasses do have green to green-blue to blue-green, dull green to pale green to bright green and green-white vertical stripes to white-green stripes and green with yellow and or white horizontal stripes.

In stature grasses are known as
- clump or tufted very short 6-12" (something like a Hostess snowball is shaped such as Festuca glauca "Elijah Blue"),
- mounding 15" or larger (similar to clump but larger in size (such as Pennisetum "Hameln"),
- upright (very vertical like Calamagrostis "Karl Foerster"),
- upright divergent (vertical w/ some spreading at the top or vase shaped such as Panicum "Cloud Nine"),
- upright arching (top portion arches outward such as Panicum "Cloud Nine"),
- arching taller than mound with very little upright base and arching over (such as Miscanthus "Morning Light" a very large portion of Miscanthus grasses are arching or upright arching).

In closing I would highly recommend that you get a hold of a book called Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses by Rick Darke. Money well spent.

Jake

Nice post, jake.
I have a lot of grasses throughout my gardens and have learned a bit from them.
It is wise to have a good mix of cool and warm season grasses. Sure, Miscanthus is great, but the darn thing(in this case 'Sinensis') doesn't bloom until the end of August!
Some cool season grasses I am fond of include 'Karl Foerster' Feather Reed Grass and it's brother 'Overdam', Northern Sea Oats, and Bottlebrush grass. The latter two can even take a decent amount of shade. BB grass tends get pretty ratty looking by the end of summer, though.

As for warms, I have several varieties of Miscanthus, Switchgrass, Little Bluestem, and Fountain Grass.

The most popular annual grass around here is Purple Fountain Grass. I use it in some pots every year simply because it is a beautiful and reliable plant.

I have lots of full perennial beds, cottage garden style, and the grasses really set everything off well, in addition to providing their own show. I love grasses and love talking about them. It seems I'm not the only one.
good luck

I may have confused a reader or two stating that Cloud Nine falls into both upright divergent and upright arching.

A better example of upright arching might be Miscanthus "Graziella" or M.s. "Bubbler Ben".

As for upright divergent you might select Stipa tenuissima "Ponytail" or Panicum "Shenandoah".

To expound a little on the color of grasses some grass fronds will change color to a soft wine or very pale red to a deep burgundy as the season comes to a close.

The inflorescence of many grasses will open in an arrangement of colors from buff, white, purple-ish to black and in the end most all will turn to a pale manila or tan color.

Some inflorescence will be very tight and shaped like a bottle brush cleaner while others will be very open and airy making one think they are looking at a small swarm of bugs floating in the air.

Ornamental grasses  " ... a manÂs perennial".

Jake

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer my post. We are excited to start our love affair with ornamental grasses :-)...........I already love the way they dance in the wind :-)