Meagan Provencher, landscape designer at Wasco Nursery & Garden Center, St. Charles

Roy Diblik, co-owner, Northwind Perennial Farm, Burlington, Wisconsin.

"My favorites are anything in the Miscanthus family. Old-fashioned M. gracillimus stands upright all year and turns rosy blush to 'orangey' as the season proceeds. There's never a problem with its breaking down. At home I leave it up through the winter so the birds can take the seed heads. A close second would be switch grass (Panicum)."

"I would say that the most important grass for interest under snow is Miscanthus sinensis. Cultivars that are fairly durable in our area are 'Graziella', 'Ferner Osten', 'Nippon' and also M. purpurascens. They remain strong during winter storms and keep their seed heads flying high. Calamagrostis does keep a nice vertical look into January and Molina caerulea 'Moorhexe' stays vertical through the winter."

Jon Carlson, President, J. Carlson Growers, Inc., Rockford.

"There are four we like to use. First, ravenna grass (Erianthus ravennae), which is really tall. Then feather reed grass (Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster')--an old standby but you can't beat it. We also like the dwarf fountain grass Pennisetum 'Hameln'. And this fall I visited Castle Rock State Park in Oregon, Illinois, where I was really impressed by the big bluestem growing 6, 7 and even 8 feet tall."