Question
I am looking for a hardy plant to place in a half whiskey barrel sized planter.  I want something that is going to be fairly large (2+ feet high) and not something that someone would want to grab and play with or pull on.  The planter is located on a well-walked sidewalk in a college town.  I had some ornamental grass and other perennials in it over the summer.  Someone came along and pulled all of them out--a little college-style mischief.  I was thinking of a yucca plant.  Are there some grasses that grow fast and can "fight back?"  What about evergreens?  I live in Salem Oregon (mild, wet winters, mild to hot dry summers).  By the way, I love your state of Kentucky.  Thank you.

Answer
David,
I know what you mean about college mischief.I live in a college town also. Yuccas would be one solution but they can really hurt if you aren't watching where you are going you could easily run into it and it can draw blood.
Another great ornamental grass that is beautiful throughout the year,even in winter, is Miscanthus grass and I highly recommend it to everyone for every purpose.It covers all the points I make for a good perennial grass.It is beautiful and wispy(word?) and it also gets large plumes on it in the fall and winter.They are very soft and pretty in the breeze.However it does have very sharp thin blades of grass.It only looks soft but the only way to describe what it feels like is if you run your fingers through it it gives you a "paper cut",or actually a multiple "paper cut" because of the numerous thin sharp blades.
Of course to me that is it's only fault,but to you it would serve a purpose.There are several different varieties I like "Morning Light","Silver Feather" and "Autumn Light".They are all hardy perennials in zones 4 through 9.They are very carefree as well and require very little water and aren't picky about soil conditions.
Hope this is helpful to you!