Look at M.s. 'Adagio' and 'Little Kitten.'

You might try Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus'. It is one of the most upright of all the miscanthus cultivars. It will eventually get more that 4 feet wide but you could keep it bounds by dividing it every 3 years ~ give pieces aways to friends or just toss it out (sacrilege).

In planting spots along paths I often cut off outer leaf stalks that lean over and get in the way. After a week you never even know they had been trimmed.

Not a Miscanthus but quite similar in shape with very pretty blooms is Spodiopogon sibiricus ~ this is a good choice for a small garden.

Thank you!
Achnatherum: M. Strictus is beautiful but I already have M.Zebrinus which is very similar to it. Spodiopogon sibiricus looks good, I also have seen it takes a wonderful red color in Autumn.
Donn, Little Kitten would be perfect to me but I didn't find a site where to buy it online - OGs are still so difficult to find here!! :-( -, Adagio is a possibility, I have to decide before 15th September.

Not all Miscanthus are large specimen grasses. Try Miscanthus Little Kitten, Miscanthus Little Zebra, or Miscanthus Super Stripe, all smallish varieties that are outstanding. These are all small enough to plant en masse as well.

Little Kitten (my fav of the 3) is available at Santa Rosa Gardens. Miscanthus Super Stripe is also...that is a Blooms of Bressingham grass. Miscanthus Little Zebra is available at Plant Delights, Santa Rosa Gardens, Walters Gardens, among others.

Here is a link that might be useful: Little Kitten

Thank you so much Grass guy, but I've already bought the Miscanthus. At the end I've choosen Dwarf Jaku Jima (or whatever the spelling is) that according the nursery where I bought it, was their smaller Miscanthus. I live in Italy and here grasses aren't still popular among gardeners. There are only a few nurseries selling them and so as you can imagine, the choice of varieties is absolutely limited.

Probably things will change in a few years. Now you can see grasses more and more frequently on garden magazines. Recently I've been at a garden exposition and there were many OG's for sale. And nearly all the visitors were buying them! Italy will be the next frontier for OG's? :-)

I didn't read closely enough the first time to see you had a purchasing deadline. Yaku Jima is a good selection that you will enjoy. It really is a scaled down version of Gracillimus. I'd say it is a slightly larger version of adagio and not as compact a grower, maybe a bit more free in habit (shouldn't we all be that way...lol). I'm not sure how your climate may impact the mature size, but I would expect it to reach 4 ft in foliage by the 3rd year.

Grasses seem to fit so well with the natural beauty of Italy that I can't see how they won't catch on with local gardeners. All they need is time and exposure to how grasses are used and the demand will hit.

Good luck and enjoy the Yaku Jima!

Ciao Alchemilla!

I have many different Miscanthus in my garden here in south Sardinia, and they do well even in the drought and intense heat we have here! I've purchased my Miscanthus in a few italian nurseries: Claragarden-Vivai Bilancioni (Rimini), Il Giardino Vivace (Didier Berruyer, Lucca). The first one have a OG collection of more than 150 varieties, and 40 of these are Miscanthus!

'Adagio' is my favourite small-sized Miscanthus: lushy and compact growt (after 2 years, mine is 1 1/2 ft -45 cm- in foliage and 2 1/2 ft -70cm- in flower), foliage with beautiful colours in autumn, inflorescence large, silvery-white.

Bye,
Maurizio

PS: please, excuse my scarce command of the English language!!

I have Miscanthus Sioux, which has been in two different soil types and is consistently 12" high and 14" to 16" high with blooms. For the size you are looking to plant, have you considered adding fountain grasses? They bloom earlier and last a long time to early fall.

Maurizio..I wish my command of Italian were as "scarce" as your English.

Ciao Maurizio, anch'io sono italiana!! Sono contenta di incrociare finalmente un altro italiano su GW! Ora torno all'inglese, tanto tu lo parli meglio di me, se no gli altri non capiscono nulla.
--------

I didn't know that Claragarden nursery and this looks like a great discover to me, I've also seen they sell online, thanks so much! I recently ordered the majority of my grasses from Priola (Treviso) and also bought a few of them from the said Il Giardino Vivace and from Vivai Degli Innocenti (Florence) which is a few kilometers from here.

Maurizio, do OG's are popular in Sardinia? Here in Tuscany absolutely not, apart from those HUUUUUGE and (to me) boring pampas grasses that you can see nearly in every garden.

Update about my brand new Yaku Jima. Slightly variegated foliage, about 15" tall and already starts blooming only after a week I planted it. I think I'll love it!

Maurizio, still me, excuse me. Finally I was able to enter the Claragarden web site (had some problems with my browser), but I've found they only offer 34 varieties of grasses. Did you buy the yours online, by paper catalogue or directly from the nursery? thank you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Claragarden grasses online

Thank you Donn... but I TRY to write in English... It's very difficult to me! Just few words, and sloooowly... oh, God, really slowly... ;o)

Alchemilla, the Claragarden web site is still under costruction (uhm... It is since 2004... !!), and shows only one part of the entire collection. The original OG collection was collected by Mr Mark King (from Louisiana), in his own nursery (Casarocca Collections) in Piemonte (NW Italy), but it was too cold for most of the species. Then Daniele Bilancioni come from Rimini and take it home. To buy the plants, the easiest way is to send an email order ;o) Plants are available both as a division and also potted.

Priola too have a nice OG list, but the plants are often smaller and weaker than expected.

About the popularity of Ornamental Grasses here in Sardinia, I Think that 99% of people think they are... weeds!! (Urgh! o_O). Many species are native plants, filling the landscape, including the amazing Ampelodesmos mauritanicus, a superb specimen in the garden and very drought and heat resistant (also widely growing at Isola d'Elba), Oryzopsis miliacea and many others. Just few friends of mine have OG in their gardens, but I see there's much interest in the visitors on my garden: in the borders, with a selection of good companions, grasses are invaluable, adding texture, colour and.. light! ;o) Look at this picture I've take yesterday in my garden. In the foreground, the silvery Miscanthus 'Adagio'and on the rear the silky pink plumes of Rhynchelytrum repens (Red Natal Grass), an annual self-seeder that I use like filler, flowering from July to November here!!, and above is a two year old Miscanthus sinensis 'Gracillimus' ;o)

I hope you enjoy...

Ciao Maurizio, I really enjoyed your gorgeus grasses, expecially that fabolous Rhynchelytrum repens that I've never heard before.

I'm a big fan too of native grasses and have many of them in my garden. I have never seen Amp. maritanicus on the Isola d'Elba, but I think I had seen it while travelling in the South of Italy. Actually I have a tall wonderful (mistery) grass taken from the Isola d'Elba but it doesn't look to be Ampelodesmos mauritanicus. It's about 6' tall (1,80 m), not compact airy shape, nearly blue narrow and arching foliage. Not blooming until now (it's only in its first year.. I'm worried about how it will get tall!). I'm sorry my camera is under repair and I can't show you a picture. But you surely know that grass, Sardinia and Elba have quite similar vegetations.

I'll send a mail to Claragarden asking for their real catalog. All the grasses I took from Priola were enough big (16 cm pots) and healthy. But I already bought all their varieties which I liked. So I'm really happy to know another nursery specialized in OG's. :-)

Beautiful grasses!!!

This might not be a grass you'll find locally, but this Italian named grass is fantastic...

Miscanthus sinensis Rigoletto

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Really nice compact shape in a variegated miscanthus. Much like Miscanthus Variegatus, except only 4 ft tall and it doesn't get that wide floppy forming clump.

:-Oooo Wow, that Rigoletto is just fantastic!!

(a fantastic Giuseppe Verdi's opera as well!)