Miscanthus sinensis ‘Strictus’ (Porcupine Grass or Japanese Silver Grass)

Summer sun bouncing off the top of a well-thatched Miscanthus as it wafts about in a breeze is a grand reminder, should you need one, that no collection of architectural plants (the name’s above the door) can be considered complete without some grasses. There is a cathedral-esque quality to the soaring vaulted whoosh upwards and graceful arching downward-ness of tall grasses which can be both soft and dramatic and most definitely structural. And this one is T A L L at 4 metres, with a spread of around 1.2 metres.

This scale and density of form amplifies how light plays across this plant and why it looks so good in your garden: its lower quarters are cool and shaded and stuffed with shadow while the tops fill with fluid, dancing light. It's a powerful mass of vigorous and stripy individual stems which stir beautifully at the merest puff of a gust, so do plant them where you can watch the wind tickle it.

‘Strictus’ looks superb as a specimen as it has a good symmetrical ‘cone-upside-down’ form and will be splendid all by itself. Or plant several in a (big) swooping swoosh to bring some drama and impact into a herbaceous setting. We like to mix them with more solid forms and static architecture: think bubbles of shrubs and some striking horizontals from low- branched trees and you can see the potential for some fun with all kinds of contrast.

Having deliberately hidden the ‘stripy’ part so as not to alarm you with visions of garish variegation, we’ll put our rep on the line and state that you’ll love these stripes. Pale cream and not so close together as to be a headache. Think not of Christmas socks, but more of an Ocellot stalking the shade all lithe with grace and purpose, its banded markings blurring and bouncing the light. Like that, but a grass.

It’s deciduous but as the stems and foliage gradually bronze and rust in Autumn what remains is a rather pleasing russet fountain which you can leave switched on all winter if you like. The flowers, which are puffily-plumed and shoved up into the sky from April to June, can also be left to adorn it as they too will remain looking interesting long into the dark parts of the year.

Dappled shade to full sun (few grasses like heavy shade) and in any soil as long as it’s moist and well-drained

 N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well watered when first planted.