My Switchgrass 'Dallas Blues', Little Bluestem 'the blues', Prairie Dropseed, and Switchgrass 'Heavy Metal' could care less that it's 112 today in OKC...they're going strong without much supplemental watering. In fact, the Dallas Blues that i planted from 1 gallon containers earlier this spring are already approaching 5 ft! Natives, Natives, Natives...it's the only way to go.

I'll be adding some Little Bluestem! I had planned to do it this fall, but with conditions the way they are, I don't want to chance it. Fall is very busy for us with school starting back and football starting. I think I'll just wait till spring and save myself some work.

I have 4 Pennisetum Alopecuriodes that were planted the last week of June. They were purchased from SRG and they have done very well. They've doubled in size and never shown the slightest bit of shock. I also have some 'Hameln' and they have finally taken off and are putting out blooms now. I picked up three 'Karl Foerster' FRG on clearance at Walmart. They only had a couple green blades left on them, but for $1.00 a piece, I'm hoping to keep them alive this year and that they will flourish next year. We'll see!

Stay safe in this heat! It has to break sometime!

I am replacing my Miscanthus with Great Basin Wild Rye (Cinereus). I ordered plants from Great Basin Natives this week and plan to plant them when it cools down into the 80's after midnight, taking out the Miscanthus I put in last fall and replacing it. Since I've been having to water the Miscanthus as it is, I reasoned I might as well go ahead and take them out and put in a better choice and water it everyday instead. I have decided to go all native on the grasses except for Karl Forester, P. Hamlyn and Carly Rose.

The GB Wild Rye is blue and will get up to 7 feet tall and is very drought hardy. I have Little Bluestem in front of the Miscanthus right now and its not a good combination anyway. Miscanthus looks out of place in my garden. Its doing exactly the same thing as yours Okiegirl, with the curling etc.

All of the Muhly grasses are doing very good, starting to bloom. The two types of Panicum have been blooming over a month now. All fhese seem unaffected by heat. The Little bluestem is fine, blue and tall with a once a week watering.

Here are pictures of Great Basin Giant Wild Rye in spring, summer and winter. It is very vertical and stays upright in winter. What do you think of it as a large grass choice?

I had some confusion trying to figure out this Rye Grass. The one sold as Wild Rye 'Blue Lyme' is a European that spreads aggressively by roots. They have such similar names, its confusing. Last year I ordered 9 'Canyon Prince' from SRG. The Great Basin type is native American and is not aggressive.

My grass would be fine if they had SOME water. Even the desert grass is brown. Mexican Feather grass and Bamboo muhly are the best and that is not saying much. 5" of rain in a 11 months does not cut it. I ran out of water at the house this morning. We shipped in water, but at the price and the water restraints, I am not watering.

Yep, my switch grasses seem to LOVE the heat, too. Here in your sister state of Texas, I think the thing of the future are ornamental grasses, at least they are in my yard. Everything is looking devastated except the grasses and old roses.

Nice pics.

I have some miscanthus purparescens that are kind of sitting around and browning up even though I water them a couple of times a week. I just want to keep them alive into September. It's been hot in Maryland, but nothing like OK or TX. What you're going through is Phoenix like. My other miscanthus are doing OK.

I planted a bunch of muhly on a slope that won't hold much water and they're doing great. The best out of all my grasses. I can't wait to see them bloom. One of them isn't a muhly even though it was labelled as one. I don't know what it is. It looks like giant light blue quack grass. Whatever it is, it's doing great.

I got some grass, supposed to be Deer Muhly and it ended up being Giant Sacaton (Wrightii). I planted seeds of Deergrass and one that came up was also G. Sacaton. Its blueish, the leaves droop midway up, about 2.5 ft tall or a bit taller, it pokes up a long thin hairlike "leaf" thing where the bloom stalks are forming. Mine haven't actually sent up the bloom stalks yet.

Does it look anything like that? Just wondering because that made twice it ended up being Sacaton when it was supposed to be Deergrass for me. If it is, its a nice drought hardy grass.

It's 9pm, 100 Deg out and I'm watering like mad just to keep everything alive like the rest of you, and by tomorrow night it'll be devastation again!!

cactusgarden, it sounds like you really like the Giant Sacaton; I am thinking maybe I could put that in as "sort" of hedge along part of my 6' chain link fence instead of all rambler roses - I'll tell you what, this weather makes one really think about this!

Hope y'all are keeping cool!

ogrose, I really don't like it all that much. I am trying to hide my ugly neighbors yard and it gets tall. I am after tall and drought hardy. If I had a different situation, I wouldn't be choosing it. Maybe I will like it after it blooms. As a grass, its not that ornamental. Just big.

I do, however, think I like this Great Basin Giant Wild Rye. No one commented so maybe I am the only one drawn to it. I think it has great possibilities and might be very dramatic. I will have to wait and see.

Lindheimer's Muhly is doing great in this heat. It's in direct sun next to the driveway for at least 10 hours, gets water once a week or less and is still nice and green. Hasn't bloomed yet, but it's a young plant.

Mexican Feather Grass looks good in the gravel garden too.

The Great Basin Wild Rye looks like a good choice for a large grass. Softer, friendlier than Pampas.

I'm thinking of adding some switch grass next year as well. I've been looking at the Panicum 'Prairie Sky'. I'm wanting something to go behind a row of Pennisetum Alopecuriodes in the beds beside the porch, and then add a few perennials to it as well.

I will probably replace the purple ftn grass with something native as well. I like that it provides a lot of interest all through the summer but think I want something a little different. Not sure what I'll go with there.

I also need to figure out how I'm going to sow some Mexican Feather grass next month. Can't decide whether to start it in pots, or just plant a bunch in the back corner where I don't have anything growing.

You could do some of both, that's what I plan to try so I know what works best for future reseeding.

I have a question concerning Lindheimer's Muhly and I bet you TX and Ok folks have got some experience with it. I have never grown one. I see the size range from 2 - 5 ft. tall and 4-5 ft. wide. I have one that I potted up from SRG about 7 weeks ago and it is ready to go in the ground now. I think I can give this plant morning and noon sun. What should I expect size wise.

Looks like you answered your own question in your question.

It may look like it, but maybe I didn't make myself clear.

What I see in the size range is 2-5 ft tall. That is quite a difference in height. So is it 2 feet or 2.5 times that being 5 feet tall. I am guessing where it is grown at may have something to do with the height. I just don't normally see that large of difference in plant sizes so I am hesitant about the placement of it.

I have two that are about 3ft, one that is about 4+ ft tall that have more vertical growth. Then I have three that are lower growing and much more weeping only about 2ft tall. The blooms will add to the height but I will have to wait to see. Mine seem to vary from plant to plant so far. The one planted in the spot close to where the water drips from the air conditioner is taller but then another that is in a low spot that has regular water where is collects downhill is shorter than ones higher up and dryer. I have two together in the same area and one is taller than the other one.

Thanks for the info cactusgarden. Where I was going to plant this I really wanted to have a good idea on size so I think I will find another spot for it.

In regards to the size that Lindheimer Muhly will grow to, It really matters on the character of your soil and how much moisture it has. They grow and proliferate in limestone caliche rubble , but they stay small and efficient. In habitat one will see it growing 2.5 feet And smaller if established on a dry hill but if it is by a spring or in a low spot with soil and a LITTLE moisture, It will put on size and live up to its common name BIG MUHLY.. I have seen it get LARGER than 5" but that was in Lady Bird Johnson's wildflower Center garden with irrigation and amended soil. In my yard (very dry hill) it stays small until it blooms. There is one HUGE one down in my neighbors valley where they made a road embankment over an arroyo just down from a spring so its roots must have found some underground water. They can get hugely deep roots. This embankment is a good 8 feet above the valley floor. I talked to a guy that looks for springs to tap on ranches in the area and he looks for these grasses and notes their size and placement as a clue of where to dig. You would think he would look for SEEP muhly.

It might be Giant Sacaton. It's only a couple of feet tall and no blooms, so it's hard to say what it is.

I hope it's not Giant Sacaton. It will swallow the muhly.

I'm not so sure it will swallow the Muhly. What kind of Muhly? How far apart are they? Neither the Sacaton plants I grew from seed or the ones that were 4" good starts in pots last summer I got from a friend, have bloomed yet. The 4" pot ones are about the same size you describe and both have blueish leaves with a weeping habit.

On the other hand.....

The real big Giant Sacaton I ordered from HCG of that improved Los Lunas Form they bred for wind breaks are truly giants. They are as as big as a large clump of pampas grass from the small gallon sizes I planted last fall with leaves just as wide. They are putting up very stiff straight blooms and these are taller than me. At maturity they are supposed to be 8 to 10 ft tall by 6 ft wide. I am using them as a screen grass and have them planted six feet apart.

The native type has much thinner leaves, is bluer and is also much smaller. I figure they will increase in mass after a few years but I don't think they will be huge. Time will tell. Plants of the SW says they get 3 to 4 ft wide and high with blooms that are 7 ft. You can always edit your planting next spring. I am starting to like them better, I like the blue color.