• Pampas grass is just one of hundreds of ornamental grassesKazuko Kimizuka/Digital Vision/Getty Images
  
  Hundreds of plants are commonly called ornamental grasses. They actually come from four plant types. The color, size, texture and environmental needs are so varied between the different varieties that full descriptions could fill an encyclopedia. Some are small enough to be grown as potted plants, while others compete with trees for the skyline. From plain and unremarkable to ornate and fanciful, there is an ornamental grass that will appeal to you.
  
  

Grasses

• True grasses come from the family of Gramineae. Pampas grass is one of the more common ornamental grasses, easily recognizable by its tan-colored, feathery plumes atop 4- to 6-foot stems. Blue oats grass forms clumps and reaches about 2 feet tall it turns silvery white in the fall. Bush beard grass grows to 2 to 4 feet tall with bushy bracts topping study stems. Cotton grass forms thin, spiky leaves with white bristles.
  
  

Sedges

• Sedges are tall grasses that naturally grow in water-soaked or slow-draining areas. They develop underground rootlets that send up new sedge plants. Broad-leaf white top is suited to zones 8 and 9 and has striking white tips that reach 32 inches. Ever gold striped weeping sedge grows 12 to 16 inches tall with green edges and a cream to gold strip down the center. Frosty curls sedge is metallic green with wispy leaves that are evergreen and mature to just 12 inches tall.
  
  

Bamboos

• More than 100 species of bamboo grasses exist, ranging from just a few inches tall to more than 100 feet. They grow in dense clumps. Aureocaulis is a yellow-stemmed variety that can reach 25 feet tall. Dwarf whitestripe bamboo is only 30 inches high, green with a white strip. Veitch's bamboo has large green leaves that become tan at the margins during winter. It grows to 4 feet.
  
  

Rushes

• Rushes fall into the family Juncaceae. They typically have several blades sheathing the main stem and develop nondescript flowers. They prefer wet to damp growing sites. Blue medusa rush is a 12- to 18-inch-tall blue-gray grass with curvy blades. The Japanese rush has two or three white stripes running along its light green, 14-inch leaves.