Turning Japanese

Sometimes the overuse of perfectly good plants starts to sour our impression of them (kind of like when great songs are used in awful TV ads). Such is beginning to be the case with variegated Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa “Aureola”). However, just as people are growing used to swaths of this great plant, a new sport is becoming available that possesses the same elegant form combined with a gold/maroon color scheme tailored for Gopher fans. “Sunflare” is an attention-grabbing offspring of “All Gold” that lends autumnal flair to the garden throughout the growing season. Multicolored foliage streaks onto the scene in spring, largely ages to gold in summer, and then reprises its spring show come fall. Like “All Gold”, it is less bulky and aggressive than “Aureola” once established.