Hello everyone Here on Vancouver Island, Purple Fountain grass appears to be a tender perennial. I have it in a pot and am wondering how I can overwinter it. Will an unheated shop be enought protection? Should I cut it back now and divide it into smaller pots? Thanks for your help.
what zone is it hardy to? and what zone are you in? if there's only one zone difference, it should be fine in a closed, unheated area (like a garage). i would wrap something around the pot tho, just in case - especially if you will be going in/out of the area and introducing blasts of cold air when opening the door as well as if it gets extremely cold and the temp of the enclosed area gets to dangerous levels for the pampas. i don't think you really need to cut it back any - you can always remove anything that's died over the winter once it's started growing again in the spring (and you can see what's what). you wouldn't want to cut anything back that's actually not dead. although i'm not familiar with it, i would think it might lose color and then green up again once the warmer weather starts up. i see pampas grass around here and no one cuts it back in the winter - makes for some nice winter interest in the yard even though it's not green.
It is considered a frost sensitive perennial. Being so popular though, as an annual, you might find it less of an effort to just buy a new one in the spring? This is especially true if you're planning on dividing it and repotting it, etc. What ever you plan to do with it in the winter, it's an evergreen grass and will need high light for the duration of winter.
