Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus' or Porcupine Grass is a favorite of Warner Nursery staff member Jessica Duncan. She is pictured here with some samples of this seriously striped plant. Porcupine Grass is a 6-8' upright grass with alternating yellow-gold bands on its' medium green foliage. These can reach a height of 9', including the plumes, in the Fall. Porcupine Grass "gives great structure to a garden space due to its' non-floppy, upright habit" according to Jess. This is one of the reasons she loves it!
A close relative to Porcupine Grass is Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus', another New England cold hardy species of maiden grass. Zebra Grass maxes out at 5-6' tall and its' foliage, similarly banded to Porcupine Grass, has distinct gold horizontal bands. It reaches 7-8' including its plumes or flowers in the Fall.
Zebra Grass does not have the same erect structure as Porcupine Grass, as it tends to want to fall outward from the center a bit. Both grasses have very sharp leaves and can be divided in early Spring once they have been cut back, for the least amount of contact with the foliage.
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