Fast and big and evergreen translates to Phormium, since pampas grass is pretty much a no-no in CA. 'Yellow Wave' or 'Wings of Gold' is about as close as you will get to chartreuse. Phorms can be found in as much as 15 gallon sizes and will be close to the height you desire at that size.

Unless Phormium crossed over into the grass family, that would be a perennial offering, not a ornamental grass. If truly in zone 9, you could almost get away for having simply Miscanthus sinensis "Rotsilber" or the like, and Saccharum "Red Plume". Although in a elongated winter, these grasses are truly herbaceous, and will need to be cut down, but I have seen both genus evergreen where frost does not cut down their growing time.

I'm quite aware that Phormium is a fleshy rooted flowering perennial, however because of its appearance and habit it is often grouped with ornamental grasses and can be used in much the same manner and mixes well with true ornamental grasses and other perennials. And since it is one of a very few evergreen, grass-like plants that will readily achieve the size desired and will work well in this situation, it was suggested.

Hello; Regarding the last post, you stated that Phormium
is a perennial and then at the end you mention that it is one of a very few evergreen grasses.If Phormium is a perennial it cannot be an evergreen.In fact no perennials can be an evergreen.

Slow down people -- back to the original issue please. Gardengal didn't say Phormium was an evergreen grass, she said it was among the "evergreen grass-like plants.."

Falcon -- do you have a recommendation for a grass for Karen??

The evergreen requirement is really a tough one if grasses are a must for this planting. I defer to Agastache man on the evergreen habits of Miscanthus cultivars. Flipping through Darke's book i see that Andropogon gerardii may have some of the qualities sought and would look lovely in 14 months -- just don't tell the purchaser that they'll have to cut it down in the spring!

Falcon, I beg to differ - there are a great many evergreen perennials. I'm not sure how YOU define perennial, but the general consensus is that a perennial is any plant with a lifespan longer than two years. Under that broad characterization, even shrubs and trees are technically considered to be perennials and there should be no argument that a good many of these are indeed evergreen.

If you narrow the definition to those plants that do not form woody frameworks, eliminating trees and shrubs, leaving what most folks consider to be 'flowering' perennial plants, there are still a good many that retain their foliage throughout the year. These are of course different from herbaceous perennials, which die back to the root crown in winter, leaving no visible foliage. Climate may play a role in how evergreen these plants truly are just as it does with some larger, woody 'evergreen' plants, but just being considered a perennial does not necessarily translate into non-evergreen.

Tell me, how would you classify liriope or ophiopogon?