Maintaining purple fountain grass

Is purple fountain grass an annual?

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**FULL QUESTION** Dear *Gardening Life*, Is purple fountain grass (*Pennisetum setaceum* 'Rubrum') an annual? *—Sin Chiu*

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**FULL ANSWER** This lovely plant with its dark burgundy leaves and purple plumes is native to Africa and not hardy in Canada. It needs lots of sun and heat to perform its best. If you grow it in a container, you can try to bring it indoors for the winter. UBC Botanical Garden suggests you cut it back to about three inches, put it in a sunny window in a cool room and keep it moist but not soggy. Then put it back outside once all danger of frost is past. That said, I know gardeners who have tried this with only limited success. You're probably best to consider it an annual and buy new plants each year. *—Karen York, Botanical Editor* Other questions recently answered by the GL team: Planting under maple trees Discouraging cats from your garden Hints for growing sweet bell peppers Buying exotic plants in Toronto Preventing brown leaf spot Information on peony-flowered poppies Tips for growing tulips and lilies When to move irises Maintaining blue spruces The best way to grow gunneras Getting rid of sawfly larvae on roses Eliminating earwigs from clematis flowers Beetle damage to spruce trees Removing whiteflies from hibiscus leaves Building a cactus garden Maintaining redbud trees Maintaining Boston ivy growth Using black walnut leaves for mulch Stopping powdery mildew on maples Planting trees near a swale Growing on a septic field How to battle weeds between flagstone and alternative options Mysterious orange powder on the lawn What to do with end-of-season potatoes on the vine How to control Japanese knotweed What to grow in a dry area The proper way to plant astrantia What is the star flower and how do I manage it? How do I eliminate my ant problem? Preventing red beetles from attacking lilies Vine types to grow on a new pergola

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