As all of us who garden in shade know, shade itself is a variable commodity. Exact definitions are illusive and the fine gradations often differ from one person's mind to another.
This being so, I thought I'd better start with a definition of light shade as far as this genera is concerned, and as far as my USDA zone 7 garden is concerned. Your mileage may vary.
I have Pennisetum in five different locations in my garden. One area is a north facing berm that used to get almost full sun. Now that the shrubs at the top have grown, the north face gets bright light and direct noon sun for an hour or two, then shafts of glancing sun for the afternoon. A second area is on the south side of the house, about ten feet (3.04m) from the covered walkway. This spot gets direct sun around the noon hour - say for about two or three hours a day, otherwise it is shaded but bright because there are no trees directly overhanging it. The third spot gets only late afternoon sun with high dappled shade the rest of the day. Another is surrounded by trees, but more or less open above; again only mid day direct sun. The last area gets afternoon sun starting about 2 p.m. and continuing until about 5 or 6 p.m. when the sun has fallen enough so that the trees to the west block it. The main thing all the areas have in common is brightness even when not getting direct sun. I call all these areas light shade because of this brightness, although in the early morning, many of the areas are in pretty heavy shadow from the trees to their east.
I've bored you with this so that you will understand that this genera can be successfully grown when you don't have full sun. But, it is not going to do well in a really shady spot. It will just fade away on you.
The genus Pennisetum contains between 80 and 120 perennial and annual species, depending on which authority you're referring to. They are native to most of the world, except North America, mostly tropical and sub-tropical climates. Some have escaped cultivation in the United States and naturalized (i.e. P. villosum in Michigan, Texas and California and P. alopecuroides in Pennsylvania). Some are hardy to USDA zone 6 and some are only hardy to USDA zones 9 and 10. These are not plants for the far northern garden unless you want to keep them in pots and protect them over winter. Some of the lovely tender ones are treated as annuals or pot plants.
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