One of the great benefits of ornamental grasses is their plumes.   You can dry these plumes and bring these beauties right inside you home!  The plumes will last for years.

Grasses are extremely easy to dry. Cut the plumes to their desired length just as the plumes are fresh and the foliage has not yet started to turn brown for the winter. Bundle together the stalks. I use 'quick-ties' to secure the bundle. Hang upside down in the garage to dry. The ones that I hung to dry this winter maintained a lot of their foliage color. Especially Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus' which still sports its horizontal bands.

If you into flower arranging grass plumes are a great addition! You can have your own abundant supply of these beauties by planning ahead now and planting grasses with the plumes that you like. My favorite kind of plumes are the Miscanthus plumes.  I took pictures of the grass plumes that I dried from the growing season of 1998.  These are pictured in the following table.