Re: Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola'
> Last year I commented that I had fallen in love with pictures of
hakonechloa
> aurea (I think that was the name of it) but it was too expensive to
kill...
I find it nearly impossible to express my passion for this plant without
lapsing into semi-pornographic couplets, but I'll try. I first saw
Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' in one of the specialty catalogs about 8 years
ago and was also flummoxed (love that word - and it's appropriate here) by
the price. I decided to wait for better prices and, most importantly,
positive feedback on it's hardiness, difficulty, persnickety requirements
and possible toxicity. Especially it's toxicity; if some vermin dares to
eat anything that beautiful, I most seriously want said vermin to suffer.
In pursuit of more information I interogated the director of the local
botanical gardens and made such a spectacle of myself openly fantasizing
about massive swaths of it surrounding my home and shimmering in the
sunlight that he took me aside and showed me his private collection of this
exquisite, elegant grass. All 6 sprigs of it. In a three inch pot. Sadly,
it was all the county-funded botanical gardens could afford at the time.
Being the kind, generous, thoughtful person that he is, the director gifted
me with two sprigs of it for me to coax into the Lawn of Elysian Fields that
were flourishing in my dreams. Being the greedy plant junkie that I am, I
snatched them, thanked him, and hauled ass. I carefully watered, fed, and
indulged those two priceless sprigs for 6 months, not totally unaware that
they had been solidly dead for at least 5 of those months. I was in a
petulant state of denial. I refused to give them a proper burial until
something, anything, could repair the double-dug hole in my heart.
Considering that this was a pot of dirt with some dried blades of grass in
it, you might think me a bit over-emotional. But if you do, you've never
seen Golden Japanese Forest Grass with the eyes of a gardener. A gardener
with tunnel vision and obsessive-compulsive tendencies, of course.
Somewhere, long ago, I performed a deed of heroic selflessness so courageous
and noble that even the winds of Mt. Olympus whisper the tale, but only to
those who are so pure of heart and sure of foot that they can scale the
vertical slope of The Home of the Gods. I wish I could remember what it
was. I know for a fact that I did something extraordinarily exceptional
because I was rewarded very generously for it. Whilst (since we're in a
"classics" mode here) "reluctantly" assisting a dear friend, who just
happens to own a small nursery, and who also just happens to have an account
at a wholesale landscaping nursery outlet, I wandered on my own, exploring
different avenues of shrubs, perrenials and trees, looking for that one
special plant whose purchase would inspire me to new heights of gardening
ecstacy. Actually, I was looking for a Rhododendron 'Mardi Gras' to replace
the one that Bambi had killed, but this is a happy tale, with a happy
ending, so let's not go there. Turning a corner and sashaying down yet
another avenue of Poodled Junipers (don't get me started....) I was jolted
by the sight of rippling, golden waves of grass. A sea of it. It took an
army of two elderly women to prevent me from rolling in it. But I had
finally found my Holy Grail - and my Holy Grail just happened to be a gallon
sized pot of Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' at the flummox-defying price of
$4.99.
That karmic reward was 5 years ago, and my beloved Golden Japanese Forest
Grass is planted by the door most frequently used, so I can see it as often
as possible. When, like now, it's not covered in 3 feet of snow and ice, of
course. Of all the beds on my property, this small bit is the only one I'm
completely happy with and have no plans to alter. Painfully slow to spread,
this clump has increased quite noticeably and seems content. It's
underplanted with Viola labradorica and the combination works so well that I
not only recommend it, I'm genuinely flattered when other gardeners copy it.
In all honesty, it's the only 3 square feet of 6.5 acres that I hope will
never change. Having said that, it's most certainly dying as I type.
The only moral I can offer here is to choose your friends carefully, and I
just happen to have chosen as friends botanical garden directors and nursery
owners, for my own selfish ends. But it's important to invest in those
friendships. The day I found my Holy Grail, I purchased five of them and
gave away four, most notably, one to the previously mentioned director. And
if my plant does indeed die (The Curse of Garden Braggery), you'll find me
at the local botanical gardens. With a smile on my face and a trowel in my
hand. I'll only need a blade or two, and then I'm off to perform a heroic
deed. Or two.
> I got a Burpee catalog the other day, (with a coupon for $10 off an
order).
> They have listed hakonecholoa macra 'albo-striata'. Does anyone know how
> the two compare, appearance-wise
This one is more white and green, as opposed to gold and chartreuse of the
above. Equally beautiful, and works with other color combinations.
Keith, WNY, zone 5
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