To the best of my knowledge, no one has been able to overwinter this (Purple Fountain Grass) unless they were in a green house. Many of my friends, and I have tried to bring them indoors to keep in the light but they died. We also tried to keep it in a cool cellar and let it go dormant but it died. Your best bet, as I do and most of my friends do, is to treat it like an annual and replace it from the green house.

Sorry for the depressing news, but I use my valuable space with things I know will come back.

Like I stated in another forum, I have over wintered purple fountain grass pretty successfully. I dig it up, cut it way back, and divide it. I pot up quart size pieces and put them in a cool basement under lights before mid Oct. Keep on the dry side. They grow fairly slowly (maybe a hair cut or two) until they are brought to warmer temps. I bet they would be ok in cool (30-40F) dormant situation too if they are cut back and kept mostly dry.

I am in zone 7b/8a in NC and have it in a pot. It is considered an annual here also but I am going to experiment with it this year and try and keep it over the winter in an unheated garage and protect it when temps go below freezing.

I just bought this gorgeous grass two days ago at the local HD. I thought it was perennial in my zone per the HD worker. I guess she was wrong per all the postings on this site. SOOOOOO....should I just leave them in their store-bought containers (quart-size) and try them in the garage for overwintering with a couple of light waterings to keep the roots from drying out? Has ANYONE had any success with this method from my zone?