Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Overdam' (ka-la-mo-GROSS-tis ak-yoo-tih-FLOR-uh) is a charming grass with variegated green and white stripes and these rosy colored feathery flowering stalks. Its wonderful clumping and upright habit serve well in a pot, as a standalone specimen, or in this mixed sunny border with Miscanthus floridulus 'giganteus' (miss-KANTH-us flor-ID-yoo-lus), Clematis recta 'purpurea' (KLEM-uh-tiss REK-tuh pur-PUR-ee-uh) and its fragrant white blossoms, the dark purple delphinium, and on the distant right, a hibiscus.Normally we wait until the first signs of spring growth to cut back all the ornamental grasses - for the fall and winter offer beautiful interest in the garden - but we may cut some of the Calamagrostis back in the early fall this year, as I see a few more divisions being planted in the garden.
