Miscanthus – Morning Light

Graceful habit with delicately striped leaves and late summer blooms

Features

Graceful habit with delicately striped leaves and late summer blooms

Attracts: Birds

Resists: Deer

Award Winner

Dead-Heading Not Necessary

Grass

Winter Interest

Salt Tolerant

Maintenance Notes

Morning Light is a warm-season grass. Warm-season grasses won't start growing until mid to late spring or even early summer. Their major growth and flowering happens when the weather is hot. They will usually turn shades of brown for the winter.

Cut back warm season grasses in fall or by mid to late spring. Warm season grasses turn shades of brown as the weather turns colder. Once your warm season grasses turn brown you can trim them back at almost any time. If you like to tidy your garden in fall or if you live in an area where fire can be problematic trim warm season grasses so they are just a few inches tall.

If you live in an area where fire generally isn't a problem you can leave the dried grasses and seed heads in your garden for winter interest. Snow or ice encrusted ornamental grasses can be quite beautiful.

If you leave the trimming until spring try to make sure to cut them back to the ground (you can leave a couple of inches) by late spring, before new growth begins.

Not all ornamental grasses look good through the winter, trim back those that don't look good in the fall.

Divide warm season grasses anytime spring through mid-summer. All ornamental grasses should be divided when they are actively growing but not while they are flowering. If the plants are dormant when they are transplanted they won't establish a good root system. Warm season grasses generally start growing in late spring or early summer and have their active growth period during the heat of the summer. Warm season grasses will tend to bloom in mid to late summer.

Foliage should be left standing throughout the winter for visual interest and to provide protection for the crowns. Cut foliage to the ground in late winter just before new shoots appear.

Uses Notes

Use in beds, borders and large containers

Maintenance Category Easy

Water Category Average

Bloom Time

Flower Form Border Plant, Container, Dried Flower, Grass, Landscape, Mass Planting, Specimen or Focal Point

Soil Fertility Average Soil, Poor Soil

Soil PH Category Acidic Soil, Neutral Soil

pH B - pH 5.8 - 6.2

EC (2:1 Extraction Method) 0.6 - 0.9

Fertilization 150 - 200

Light Requirements High

Water Requirements Moderate to Moist

Rooting Out Temperature 65 - 72° Fahrenheit

Growing On Temperature 65 - 72° Fahrenheit

Holding Temperature 40 - 50° Fahrenheit

Planting and Timing Information

Spring to Summer Sales. Standard PPP

Finishing Times [weeks]
4-5" and Quart Pot : 4-6
6" and Gallon Pot : 7-9
7-9" Pot :
10-12" and Two Gallon Pot :

Pinching and Growth Regulators

No pinching or growth regulators needed.

Pest and Disease Management

General pest and disease practices as listed in notes.

Grower Tips

This is a warm-season grass, plant as days lengthen and temperatures. Plants will not establish root growth under cool temperatures and short days.

Mounded.