Hakonechloa M. ‘Aureola’ 1Gal

Latin Name: Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola'

Common Name: Aureola Golden Japanese Forest Grass

Zones: 5–9

Height & Spread: 12–18 inches tall, spreading 18–24 inches wide

Descriptive Features: One of the most beloved and widely planted variegated grasses, and a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit recipient, prized for its graceful, cascading form and luminous color. Slender, bamboo-like leaves are boldly striped in bright golden-yellow with thin green pinstripes, arching and flowing outward from the base in a fountain-like, weeping habit that brings soft movement to shaded plantings. Foliage often takes on rosy-red to pink blush tones in fall, adding a final flourish before winter dormancy. Delicate, airy flower spikelets appear in late summer but are secondary to the plant's outstanding foliage display. A slow-spreading, well-behaved perennial that gradually forms an expanding clump rather than becoming aggressive, making it equally at home in the ground or in containers. Best sited in part shade with some morning sun, which brings out the brightest gold coloring, though it also tolerates deeper shade with a slightly greener cast. Deer-resistant and low-maintenance, needing only a late-winter cutback to tidy up the previous year's foliage. An outstanding choice for woodland gardens, shaded borders, container plantings, or cascading over walls and along pathway edges, and pairs beautifully with hostas, ferns, and heucheras in part sun to shade.