Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' immediately springs to mind. It gets to 6' and does that much earlier in the season than does Miscanthus. However Miscanthus often stands up over the winter whereas Karl collapses with the first signifcant snowfall.

Miscanthus likes a minimum of 6 hrs of sun, and that sun needs to be present during mid-day, not just early or late in the day. C. Karl Foerster can make do with 4 to 6 hr.

I concur that "Karl" would be a could choice but I have not had any problem w/ "Karl" collapsing when covered w/ snow.

We are ready to start cutting back our grasses this week and Karl is one that we do not have to "gather" up to get to the base for cutting.

We also have Panicum virgatum "Heavy Metal" that is on the fringe of being shaded (not total all day sun) and "Heavy" seems to be growing well.

If anything it does not get the vibrant deep wine color in the fall and it is not quite as thick as the other bed of "Heavy" that is in full sun.

Jake