Tall Grass That Tolerates Dry Shade

Tufted Hair Grass

• Deschampsia caespitosa is one of the most visually interesting of the tall shade grasses. Known as tufted hair grass, this perennial grows in most soils. It sports tiny shimmering spikes and grows in tight clumps about 2-feet tall. Hardy to USDA Zone 4, tufted hair grass flowers in late spring or early summer.

Wavy Hair Grass

• Deschampsia flexuosa, or wavy hair grass, has slender beige stems with panicles of tiny spikes. It grows to about 2-1/2-feet tall and is hardy to USDA Zone 4. This attractive ornamental grass has mounds of dark green foliage beneath its spikes. It spreads vigorously into drifts. Wavy hair grass grows best in acidic soil.

Quaking Grasses

• Briza grasses, hardy to USDA Zone 4, are native to the Mediterranean region and prefer dry, rocky locales. Briza maxima, an annual ornamental that grows to about 1-foot tall, is known as larger quaking grass. B. media, or lesser quaking grass, is a perennial and flourishes in wet or dry shade. Both these grasses become dormant in the heat of summer but begin to grow again in the fall.

Flame Grass

• The cultivar Miscanthus oligostachys "Purpurascens" is also known as flame grass. Because its leaves are thin, it is more likely to be scorched in full sun. Growing to 4-feet tall, its leaves are tipped with purple in late summer. By fall, the leaves are a deep reddish burgundy under a canopy of white plumes. This grass is hardy to USDA Zone 4.