My Miscanthus 'Grosse Fontaine' first put up some light beige plumes in late August which grew as expected, quite tall... but has since set up some more in the last month which are shorter and kinda burgundy! Did the same thing last year.

So why are the later plumes so much darker? I know that the older plumes tend to fade to a fluffy lighter color, I mean that the late Sept/Oct plumes are much darker I believe than the warmer weather plumes were to start.

So does that mean that late season Miscanthus plumes are reddish/burgundy while early pluming Miscanthus tend to be more white/beige, and that temperature/time of year is a factor? Most Miscanthus fit that idea. An exception is 'Huron Sunrise' which is early and reddish. 'Malepartus' plumes are sometimes light colored, sometimes reddish... maybe time of blooming is a factor?