Hi donn,

I agree that Karley is beautiful! It's the one of the earliest grasses to bloom here and goes until a hard frost. Love it!

Donn,
is there a significant difference between the plain species Pennisetum orientale and P. orientale 'Karley Rose'? I can't see much difference from the picture you posted ...
A.

I don't have any other P. orientale, so I can only speak to what I've read. 'Karley' is supposed to be more upright and has finer and darker green foliage, and the plumes are more rose-purple in color than the species.

Just got myfirst one this year afer seeing one at a friends. Although it says it's marginal in my zone, my friend has had his for 2 or 3 years and it does fine so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Blackie

I've been a bit disappointed in this grass. It was gorgeous in early summer but now the seedheads have lost their red color and have turned a light brown and look old. It does have a beautiful stature, I just with the red would last longer.

This looks like a beautiful plant. Something I would like
to try in my zone 5b. How does it handle full sun situations?
Thanks,
Mary z 5b KS

Mary..it loves full sun.

Another difference between Karley and the species is that Karley is supposedly hardier. From my understanding, straight P. orientale isn't reliably hardy to zone 5.

Lucy,
The species is totally hardy here in my zone 5 garden for the past 8 years or more. I have even grown it for a number of years in a 1/2 whiskey barrel with no problems overwintering.
Here is a pic of my P. orientale ... do you see a big difference between it and your Karely Rose???

{{gwi:866061}}
{{gwi:866062}}

major players
Panicum virgatum ÂDallas Blues (PP)
Pennisetum orientale ÂKarley Rose (PP)
Pennisetum orientale ÂOriental Fountain GrassÂ
Miscanthus sinensis ÂMalepartusÂ

minor players
Miscanthus sinensis ÂHinjo or 'Little Nicky' (PP)
Phalaris arundinacea ÂFeeseyÂ
Pennisetum alopecuroides

hidden player
Helictotrichon sempervirens

time for a beer. cheers!

so my reply to the question I forgot to answer was...

for me my P. o. 'Karley Rose' is larger and darker flowered and also longer blooming than P. oriental.
but how i love them both so much!

Hi achnatherum,

I don't grow regular orientale but have read that karley is supposedly hardier and assumed it must not be very hardy. So much for assuming! Good to hear of your experience, it must be quite hardy to survive in a barrel in zone 5. As jondmvn mentioned, the plumes on my Karleys appear darker than the plumes in your pic, otherwise they look pretty similar. I have a hard time photographing Karley, the above pic. is an excellent representation.

Jon,
Excellent picture to demonstrate the differences. Thanks for that.

Could you post slightly smaller images next time ~ big is nice but us poor slobs on dial-up really have to wait a long time to see the whole picture :o(