Okay, so I've had my clumps for many years now and I adore them - one of my favorites for foliage. Usually around mid-August or so they start browning and dying back, but they've always returned and clump sizes have expanded gradually over the years. This year --> dying back already. There's some green left in the leaves, so I gently tied the foliage into a bundle with twine and pushed out of the way so I could put a potted plant in the area for camoflauge while the foliage dies back completely, which shouldn't be much longer.

Anyway, since it's so early in the season for die-back, I'm worried they won't return next year - ? .

I'm also wondering if this is one of those plants that actually does go dormant in summer and plant catalogs aren't mentioning this, because it does happen every year, albeit later. I've always thought it was due to less than optimal moisture, but now I'm wondering if it's just the natural cycle of the plant - so is summer dormancy moisture-related or just natural timetable of this plant?