Not the best photo of Joe Pye since it was taken after a tropical storm last fall, but you can see that the plant does have standing power. Some blooms reach beyond our livingroom window so it's nice to see the butterflies and the birds which visit. The same one just a few days ago. Oh, and yes, this plant was winter sown. The blooms are lavender and the leaves run from a deep green to burgundy along the edges. I also have a 'Baby Joe' which reaches 4 feet as opposed to the one above which can reach 8 feet. In my gardens you will also find Chocolate Joe Pye which is the one with burgundy leaves and white flowers. It grows to about 4 to 5 feet. If I were you, and I had enough seeds, yes, I would try to SS some and then keep others for WSing. :O)

Hello annielu, Yes, ornamental grasses can and should be divided. Many gasses will experience die-out in the center and should be divided for both cosmetics, plant health, or to create additional plants. Division is best done in the spring before growth resumes. You can also divide in fall after the growing season. Different grasses respond better to different division times, but don't divide a grass in the heart of its growing season or in hot temps. Don't divide when pushing blooms.

Alright, I couldn't put it off any longer so I reread the thread, looked at the grasses, and faced certain aspects of reality, such as I have to do the work myself or pay someone else to do it. I thought hard about pounding rebar into my rocky soil, and I looked at the two big, heavy, old sledgehammers in the tool shed, and I quickly lowered my standards. Maybe metal fence posts with the U-shaped channel would pound into the ground easier, slipping in between the rocks. And a discussion with a few guys at Home Depot introduced me to a mini-sledgehammer that's more my size. So I ended up with a 28 inch vinyl-coated woven wire fence, attached to 3 ft fence posts pounded 1 foot into the ground so 2 feet remains above-ground. I placed the posts outside the grass clump to give them room to grow and also to let them spread out a bit at the top. It's all green, so in the winter I may have to do some camouflage such as nandina suggests. At least they sort of match the peony supports near them. Tools Grass Fence #1 Grass Fence #2 The wire fence fits nicely into the notches in the fence post and the flange footing should help keep it upright. I don't know if this is tall enough, but I plan to attach the 4 ft Y-stakes to the posts later in the season. I could fairly easily replace the 3 ft posts with 4 ft posts and just raise the fence. ex I used the loose ends of the fence to fasten the overlap. I also used some short black cable ties as fasteners. The operation was easier than I expected so it won't be so hard to talk myself into modifying the supports if I have to. I did manage to stomp on a few plants in the process, and working with curious, very thorny roses looking over your shoulder can be challenging. It's not very elegant and the green posts sort of annoy me, but it's a start. Now I have to wait and see if it works. Claire

Sorry the picture is awful...i did not know why it's widened