The 'dead' is seasonal, and more pronounced in warm climates. It's a cold season grass, which blooms in early summer. The flowers age to a blonde/tan, and the grass will frequently go dormant in the heat of mid to late-summer. Many people like the fluffy tan flowers, and leave them on the plant through the winter. As you weather cools down, it should start another season of growth, and will green up. If you don't like the flowers, you can give it a haircut at the beginning of the cooler weather. It should fill in quickly with new green growth. Trimming it may help to reduce the reseeding this plant is known for. It will quickly naturalize an area in your climate.

And ... if you don't want to cut off the bloom/seed heads you can just stroke the grass to remove the seeds. What you are left with is a lovely soft airy look. At least that is the case in my zone. ..... A.

A..do you do anything special to keep them hardy in your zone? I started 16 clumps this year, which are still in trade gallon pots (3 qt).

{{gwi:871151}}

I plan to bury the pots in nursery beds for the winter, and install the plants in the spring.

Donn,
The plants you see were planted late last summer when I finished the dry river bed - possibly as late as September.
In my zone I find no trouble overwintering them in their first year (they don't usually bloom the first year for me). In the past the plants haven't made it through their second winter ~ don't know why ...
But I have great hopes for this lot. They are planted on very very good draining soil. I think winter wet kills them in this zone.
I'll let you know how they make out after the winter.
A.

Hmmm...drainage. Maybe I'd do better to plant these out in the nursery bed, instead of burying the pots. The bed is 50% sand, and drains sharply, while the potting mix is more moisture retentive. I successfully wintered 2 of 3 new clumps last year, and they were planted out.