"Artistic considerations aside, there are also excellent practical reasons to consider adding ornamental grasses to your borders."

"· Warm-season grasses wait until the weather starts heating up to put on most of their growth, so they're ideal for filling spaces left when spring bulbs and early-flowering perennials go dormant in early- to midsummer."

"· Sturdy grasses can help minimize staking chores because they'll mingle with and support weaker-stemmed partners in a way that's as alluring as it is labor-saving."

"· Low to medium-height grasses are perfect companions for covering the "bare ankles" of taller-growing perennials that tend to lose their lower leaves as the season progresses -including bee balm (Monarda spp.) and border phlox (Phlox paniculata), to name just two."

"Ornamental grasses come in a wide range of heights, so there's a perfect choice for any spot from the front edge to the very back of the border. Another obvious consideration for garden design is color, and here you can use grasses to your advantage in several ways. If you need a dependable, even-toned foil behind more airy flowering plants, dense clumps of green-leaved grasses make a handsome backdrop for pale or wispy blooms, such as airy white gaura ("

"), which can easily get lost against a less distinct background. Green grasses also work well for separating strong colors and boldly patterned blooms, such as the intense red heads of Maltese cross ("

"). Grass foliage makes its own color contribution to the border, and it's hard not to be tempted by the surprising variety of foliage color choices, from yellow, red, and orange, to brown, blue, or even multihued. Gold, silver, copper, or bronze flower clusters and seed heads, when caught by light, cast an almost metallic sheen over the entire garden setting."

"Beyond color, grasses have other assets to offer beds and borders -- most notably, form and texture. A fair number of traditional border denizens possess distinct upright or mounded forms, making the arching habits of many grasses a welcome transition between the two. And when you consider the dramatic contrast of fine textured grasses against the bold foliage of hostas, heucheras, and cannas -- to name just a few broad-leaved border favorites -- it's easy to see that possibilities for outstanding combinations abound."

"A subtler benefit comes from a less tangible quality of most grasses, and it may be the best of all the contributions grasses make to a bed or border: they add a softer, more natural feel to even the most precisely planned plantings, evoking the free-for-all charm of a flower-studded meadow while maintaining the tidiness and balance of a carefully cultivated border."

"As they mature, ornamental grasses provide exciting changes throughout the summer months just when most borders shine, but they're interesting at unexpected times, too. The fall foliage colors of warm-season grasses, for instance, can rival some of the showiest deciduous shrubs and trees. Their winter colors are more muted, but the russets, golds, and tans are still welcome, as are the persistent seed heads that transform snow and ice into ever-changing winter sculptures. Cool-season grasses, too, shine during the colder months, bridging the gap between the last of the fall-flowering perennials and the earliest spring bulbs."

") are undeniably enticing when controlled at the nursery. But bring these beauties home and release them in your borders, and you'll be sorry! The adage is all too true: "The first
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