Stipa, also known as Mexican feather grass, is native to hot dessert areas in the American Southwest and Mexico as well as South America. It has very slender, almost wispy leaves, and sends up feathery panicles that mature from a light, delicate green to blond. This is a grass that moves with the slightest breeze, and a setting sun can turn those panicles into a cloud of gold. It can be a beautiful contrast to native prairie plants with strong structure, such as rudbeckia, achillea, and cone flower. Mexican feather grass is perennial and evergreen in the dessert areas where it’s native, but north of zone 7 it should be treated as an annual. It tolerates drought, deer, and light frost. Like many grasses, it reseeds freely, and is considered invasive in California.