• Pampas grasspampas image by Hubert from Fotolia.com
  
  Ornamental grasses are gaining a wide popularity in home gardens and landscapes. The warm season ornamental grasses are best suited to Florida's climate. Ornamental grasses are highly responsive to temperatures.
  
  Where some grasses grow in early spring when temperature is cooler, others do not start to grow unless the soil temperature is warmer and more stable. Some recommended ornamental grasses suited to Florida include Florida gama grass, pampas grass and Japanese silver grass.
  
  

Florida Gama Grass

• Florida gama grass (Tripsacum floridanum) is also known as dwarf Fakahatchee grass. The grass is a native of the rocky pinelands of South Florida. Florida gama grass closely resembles the Eastern gama grass but is more compact and smaller in growth. The grass has a very fine texture and the leaves are about 1/8 inch wide.
  
  Florida gama grass has a mounded growth habit and forms clumps of round, 1- to 1 ½-foot tall foliage. The crown is covered with inconspicuous flowers. Plant the grass in full sun. Florida gama grass is highly tolerant of drought.
  
  

Pampas Grass

• Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) is a tall-growing ornamental grass that bears plume-like flowers. The hardy and easy-to-grow grass is among the most recognized of ornamental grassses. The ½- to ¾-inch wide leaves grow as high as 10 feet and the flowers are 1 foot high with white, feathery plumes. In winter the foliage turns golden brown.
  
  The flowers on the male plants are thinner, less full, and more elongated than the ones on the female plants. Pampas grass grows best in well drained, fertile, and loamy soil. It can also survive in poor and wet soils but the growth is less vigorous in these conditions. Plant in full sun and water occasionally during drought.
  
  

Japanese Silver Grass

• Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) is also known as maiden grass, eulalia and zebra grass. The grass grows in clumps where the foliage first grows upwards and then cascades downwards. The flowers grow and stay erect and turn fluffy during winter. Japanese silver grass can grow as high as 12 feet with 1-inch-wide, light green leaves that have a prominent white midrib.
  
  Japanese silver grass tolerates partial shade but does best in full sun. It is very tolerant of drought but thrives with regular watering.