Now, although in your zone, even earlier would have been better.

3-6" from the crown, and it can be flat-topped or slightly bowled, your choice.

Thanks for the quick reply Donn. One other question, must they be cut back?

It really depends. If it's a first year plant, you could just trim off dead foliage, and the new leaves will eventually hide the old. As the plant ages, and gets bigger and taller, that becomes more problematic.

How tall is it, and how does last year's foliage look now?

Keep in mind, I'm talking from 3 zones colder than you. I cut my Miscanthus back 2 weeks ago, and they looked awful after a mild winter.

The Adagio is 2'tall x 3'6"wide. Though when standing back the overall effect is a straw color under closer inspection about 10% of the leaves are a new beautiful green. This was the plants first winter and it was planted in my garden around June of last year.

I'd probably bite the bullet, and cut it back.

rc,
two thoughts
take your time and cut out the dead shoots ~ good pass-time if you're into zen.
or
just cut your grass back to a height just above the new growth. really cutting back is just for 'garden tidiness' and your grass will soon overgrow and hide all the old stems.

It would be a shame to cut into the new growth if it wasn't needed & lots of grassophiles only cut back to a foot or two. I have often thought to try a 'taller cut-back' to see if it would provide a natural staking effect ...