This is one of the last plants in the garden to have great fall color. I showed you most of our other ones in my last post. It’s a luscious light green in summer but in fall it turns this spectacular golden shade. It really stands out in the garden now that all the trees around it have lost their leaves and all we see are their bare branches. It always provides a lush presence in the garden but I especially love it when it gives us this bright spot of color in an otherwise green understory beneath a stark upper landscape and a drab sky. It’s surrounded by Rhododendrons and ferns and normally blends in well with them all, but now it’s a striking contrast to them. The leaves hang on for several months as they gently fade in color and eventually meld into the surrounding soil.
I struggled to grow this plant for some time until I finally put it in the right location. It’s in deep shade underneath our Red Pygmy Japanese maple, as you can see in the first photo, and below the fountain as you can see in the second one. Once I grew it there it just took off. Funny how that works, isn’t it? It’s supposed to grow into a 1′-2′ mound and ours has gotten about that big now. Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra “All Gold”) has an appropriate varietal name of All Gold based on what we see at this time of year. I planted it in this spot about 5 years ago, so it’s not particularly fast growing, but it will show off its delicate beauty for years to come.
Happy Autumn!
Steve
Gardening in Greenwood 