Top Five from Florida

The trial gardens in Florida exist in four climate zones, ranging from the subtropical in Davie, tropical in Ft. Pierce, temperate in Balm and colder in the northern Quincy area. The grasses in South Florida start to spring-up anywhere from March to May and peak in August to September. They are exposed to cycles of wet/dry, extreme summer heat and high humidity, not always exhibiting the rich fall colors of the northern grasses. Some of the top performers for Florida, based on plant form, landscape value and aesthetics are listed in the following chart:

FLREC (Davie) USDA Zone 10b	IRREC(Ft. Pierce) USDA Zone 10a	GCREC(Balm) USDA Zone 9b	NFREC(Quincy) USDA Zone 8b
‘Heavy Metal’	‘’Heavy Metal’	‘Heavy Metal’	‘Heavy Metal’
‘Prairie Fire’	‘Rotstralbusch’	‘Rotstralbusch’	‘Rotstralbusch’
‘Shenandoah’	‘Shenandoah’	‘Shenandoah’	‘Stuart’
‘Stuart’	‘Stuart’	‘Cheyenne Sky’	‘Cheyenne Sky’
‘Thundercloud’	‘Cloud Nine’	‘Cloud Nine’	‘Prairie Fire’