Ornamental Flame Grass

Flame grass, or Miscanthus purpurascens, is a cold-hardy ornamental grass. A member of the Maiden grass family, this plant offers slender leaves arching up 3 to 5 feet tall and yields plume-like flowers.

Flame grass foliage forms a shrub clump with long, green leaves that turn orange or purple in autumn. The late summer flowers open as 8- to 10-inch pink-white plumes that turn silver and last through winter. Flame grass is winter-hardy, growing in zones 4 through 9, tolerating temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

Plant flame grass in full sun and well-drained soil, with plants about 4 feet apart. Garden centers offer established plants ready for specimen planting. Mature plants are divided in spring, using a shovel or spade to separate a clump of grass and attached roots. Plant in organic-enriched soil, firming soil over the plant roots up to the crown.

Flame grass functions as landscape screen, specimen and accent clumping grass. It can be mass-planted for erosion control. This ornamental grows in containers or above-ground planters and needs little care except for occasional watering and a spring trim to remove old foliage and flowers. The silver plume flowers are dried for flower arrangements.