Graceful Grasses® Vertigo® Purple Fountain Grass | Proven Winners®

Earn [points_amount] when you buy this item.

Proven Winners is constantly working to refine and improve their offerings for the North American garden and to the nursery industry in using the best in new plant and production materials.

Features

Characteristics

Plant Needs

These COLORS never fade.

Large grass that is a great architectural element in the garden. The spiky foliage has presence.

Award Winner
Foliage Interest
Deadheading Not Necessary

Growing Guide:

Fountain Grass

This variety is especially dramatic in clusters, mass plantings, or along slopes. A favorite for fresh or dried arrangements. Pest and disease-free.

bar chart

Characteristics

Plant Type:

Annual

Height Category:

Tall

Garden Height:

48 - 96 Inches

Spacing:

24 - 36 Inches

Spread:

24 - 36 Inches

Foliage Colors:

Purple

Foliage Shade:

Black/Purple

Habit:

Upright

Container Role:

Thriller

Tolerant to:

Heat

Aggressive:

May Be Aggressive

Plant Needs

Light Requirement:

Sun

Maintenance Category:

Easy

Bloom Time:

Grown for Foliage

Hardiness Zones:

10a, 10b, 11a, 11b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b

Water Category:

Average

Soil Fertility Requirement:

Average Soil

Uses:

Container, Grass, Landscape

Light Requirement:

The optimum amount of sun or shade each plant needs to thrive: Full Sun (6+ hours), Part Sun (4-6 hours), Full Shade (up to 4 hours).

Uses Notes:

This grass will beautify your garden all summer.

Maintenance Notes:

In almost all areas it will be an annual grass. Once the grass turns brown in the fall you can cut it back to the ground whenever you would like.

Vertigo is a warm-season grass. Where temperatures get colder than 15 degrees F, the plants should be treated as annuals. Once the grass turns brown it can either be removed immediately or removed in the spring. It should not be expected to live through the winter and begin growing again in the spring.

In areas where winter temperatures remain above 15 degrees it should be considered a perennial and the following information should be useful. Warm-season grasses won't start growing until mid to late spring or even early summer. Their major growth and flowering happens when the weather is hot. They will usually turn shades of brown for the winter.

Cut back warm season grasses in fall or by mid to late spring. Warm season grasses turn shades of brown as the weather turns colder. Once your warm season grasses turn brown you can trim them back at almost any time. If you like to tidy your garden in fall or if you live in an area where fire can be problematic trim warm season grasses so they are just a few inches tall.

If you live in an area where fire generally isn't a problem you can leave the dried grasses and seed heads in your garden for winter interest. Snow or ice encrusted ornamental grasses can be quite beautiful.

If you leave the trimming until spring try to make sure to cut them back to the ground (you can leave a couple of inches) by late spring, before new growth begins.

Not all ornamental grasses look good through the winter, trim back those that don't look good in the fall.

Divide warm season grasses anytime spring through mid-summer. All ornamental grasses should be divided when they are actively growing but not while they are flowering. If the plants are dormant when they are transplanted they won't establish a good root system. Warm season grasses generally start growing in late spring or early summer and have their active growth period during the heat of the summer. Warm season grasses will tend to bloom in mid to late summer.

Features

These COLORS never fade.

Large grass that is a great architectural element in the garden. The spiky foliage has presence.

Award Winner
Foliage Interest
Deadheading Not Necessary