Hey everybody - wow, so much great info!! Sorry about not getting back here to post, schoolwork was piling up and I just didn't have the time to check back. I'm sad to say that my macodes didn't make it :( I was really heartbroken by it because I absolutely *love* their leaves...just stunning!!! When it was on it's last leg...err leaf rather, I had tried everything and nothing seemed to work. My biggest mistake that I regret is not looking at the roots soon enough...turns out it had hardly any left...poor thing :( Initially, I had mine in a 15 gallon terrarium (converted from an old aquarium) and it seemed happy in there for a while, then everything went down hill. I think that if I had caught it soon enough, it might have had a chance. As a last ditch effort, I saved the last living leaf and stuck it in some water hoping that it would form some roots. For about a week and a half it lived, but then took a turn for the worst *sigh*. I keep telling myself it's a learning experience, but I feel so guilty when one goes to that big orchid jungle in the sky.

The biggest difference is winter hardiness. Otherwise, they are about the same size, and have the same characteristics of habit and bloom. I can tell which is which from the bloom, but unless you look at them side-by-side, you probably couldn't. Pink is more pink, while Purple is magenta. Ornamental grasses shouldn't have their crowns covered with mulch during their growing season, but when they're dormant, it can be helpful. During at least the first two winters, you would be wise to cut the grass back before the coldest season comes, and cover the crowns with several inches of coarse mulch, like wood chips. As soon as the coldest season has passed, uncover the crowns. If you have a very wet cold season, uncover them. I assume you don't have reliable snow cover, so this method of mulching tender grasses gives them good insulation.

I'm not sure you will ever see any significant color change using these methods :-) First, coffee grounds are not really very acidic - they tend to have a pH that is close to neutral or at the most, only slightly acidic. So they are going to have minimal effectiveness in generating blue flowers on those types of hydrangeas that are receptive to color change (not all are). Also, it is the proper concentration of aluminum in the soil that makes blue hydrangea flowers blue. One can acidify the soil all one wants but if sufficient levels of Al are not present, the flower color won't change. Aluminum sulfate (aka 'hydrangea bluing') is typically the product recommended to blue up hydrangeas as it offers both an acidifier (sulfur) as well as aluminum. Second, to be able to release any CaCO3 (the chemical in egg shells that neutralizes acidic soil), the egg shells must be finely ground or pulverized, not just crushed. Unless they are of a very tiny particle size - like dust - they are pretty much useless. And finally, the coffee grounds and egg shells are intended to work with plants planted in the ground. Plants in containers have a completely different growing environment in that potting soil has no real soil in it and therefore few, if any, of the soil organisms necessary to process the raw materials like the grounds and the shells into plant-usable forms. So it is definitely best to use the aluminum sulfate for container grown hydrangeas. It is also important to understand that altering soil pH is never a very fast process regardless of method. And not nearly as critical with any plant grown in a container, as all fertilizing needs (what the soil pH dictates) are provided by the grower and not from the soil. Depending on the formulation of the fertilizer you use, you may never have to add a supplement like the aluminum sulfate. It is also important to understand that container plants must be fertilized often to replace the nutrients that are leached out with frequent watering.

Lindheimerri Muhly does very well for me, even in difficult spots of dry clay & it tolerates quite a bit of shade up here in OKC. I grow them in dry spots because otherwise they get too huge. Mine look really good growing in an area infested with tree roots on the high end of my property but I did give them a good soak twice this summer. Switchgrass on the other hand needs quite a bit more water and looks better with more sun, it tends to be stunted with lots of browning leaves in in dry years and doesn't color up here like it does in other parts of the country where summers are less intense, mine usually just turns from green to brown. I've never seen any red on the varieties that are supposed to turn red. I read the same thing happens to the guy on the Plano Texas Prairie blog, his tend to just go brown in fall. Switchgrass likes water. The best looking is 'Northwind' & I ordered several more to do a mass planting. My 'Heavy Metal' ones didn't do as well and are terribly dry looking but tall. Big Bluestem needs a lot more water than L. Muhly to grow good, at least the younger plants do, otherwise they get lots of brown leaves in summer. I have them planted with 'Northwind' switchgrass in my lowest spot where its easy to soak and where the water drains down when it rains. I watered them when it was very dry. The single "Red October' Big Bluestem I have growing on the hot, full sun, dry hell strip will be moved come spring (poor thing). I've got some very tall types of Little Bluestem that do great there and which are almost as tall as me but Big Blue suffered badly this year. In a friendlier spot, those Little BS would flop but as it is, they are are tall, straight and a deep rich mahogany color after being gorgeous light blue all summer. There is a gas station here that has the plain non-named local genotype of Big Bluestem planted in mass. All of them look dried up, deadish and terrible in this drought summer we had here but its been extremely dry since spring. The best muhly grass for areas getting lots of shade time but at least 3 hours of morning or afternoon sun is Pine Muhly and the much bigger Deer Muhly (if you have a really big space). They seem to be impervious to drought no matter how dry it is, I read they thrive on drought and maybe thats true. Pink Flamingo Muhly grass down on the dry hell strip is a giant. Don't fall for that "fits in a narrow space" malarky. Its the biggest grass I have.