You might try Panicum virgatum 'Northwind.' It's extremely upright and columnar, and shouldn't exceed 1.5 feet diameter at the base and 3' at the top. Once established, it's very drought tolerant.

Not as tall, nor as erect as 'Northwind' but with lots of good color, look at Imperata cylindrica, 'Rubra' or 'Red Baron'..AKA Japanese Blood Grass:

This one will require a little more water, but still does well in dry conditions once it is established.

Thanks for the input - I love the look of the bloodgrass. Rignt now I'm looking at temps between 90 and 100 degrees for the next two months - what would be the best time of year to plan these - this fall or wait until spring?

The "best" time would be spring, but it can be successfully done in the fall in your zone. If you tend to buy small pots, wait until spring. Anything 3 gallons and up could be safely done in the fall.

Some of the Bluestems will get REALLY red in the fall. Check High country Gardens for a description. They are tough as nails. I have not waterered my garden all year and we have had 5" since september. Things don't look to good but every time we get a spit of moisture, they bounce right back.

Nice pics of northwind. Wish I had bought some from SRG.

I cant recommend grasses since I have no idea what 10 hours of New Mexico sun is like. Sounds like the Sahara desert to me. But, I suggest using a wood mulch instead of rocks. Particularly in sandy soil. Over the years, the mulch will break down and add a lot of organic compounds to the soil and help with moisture and nutrient retention.

Others that I would recomend are any in the Muhlenbergia family that are weater, Especially Muhlenbergia emerslyi 'El Toro" and the 'pink Flamingo' a natural hybrid of M. lindheimeri and Gulf coast muhly.. I ahve not grown
Eltrigia elongata but it structure is very nice and it is a tough grass and sounds as if it will put up with New Mexico weather. Indian rice grass will do well on a dry sandy site.

Correction of fat fingered typing: "any that are western"

I am growing the 'Pink Flamingo' that I bought from HCG last fall. I really like how vertical it is and how dark the leaves are. It is much darker than the Muhly Linheimerri, stiffer and more vertical. I have it planted with Muhly Riverchonii and Mexican Feathergrass and it stands out well and these 3 make a good combination, all similar but different.

The 'Flamingo' is a cross between Deergrass and Gulf Coast Muhly. I think thats strange because it looks more like a stiff Lindheimerri. The flowers are pink.

These are all planted on a hot median between the street and the sidewalk and have done very well in 100+ temps we've had for over a month now. I've been watering about once a week though because it is so hot and dry and the plants are not mature. In a normal year I think they would do fine on their own when established.

Wantanamara, I believe you are right about the cross. HCG says its a naturally occurring cross between Deergrass and Gulf Muhly, but looking at the plant structure, they must have misprinted that. It definitely looks like a Lindheimerii.

Wantanamara, I believe you are right about the cross. HCG says its a naturally occurring cross between Deergrass and Gulf Muhly, but looking at the plant structure, they must have misprinted that. It definitely looks like a Lindheimerii.

That cross would make more sense geographically speaking, since they say it is a natural hybridization and there is some overlap of their ranges to the east. I sure would be interested in some seed from that. Strange because I read a year ago on their site that they listed it as M. lindheimeri as the parent. HMMMMMMMM.

Thank you everyone for all of your suggestions. I will spend some time over the fall and winter checking out all of the options so maybe when spring rolls around I'll actually have a plan. When I plant in that area I have started using some edging to make a well around the plant and filling with bark mulch so there is in essence a bark island in the rocks. I am using the big rocks to fill in between the plants because they're free and I have to pay for bark mulch. Thanks again for all of the input - I appreciate the knowledge available at this website and the willingness of the participants to share that knowledge.