There’s a word for people who try the same thing over and over again, but our insanity kept us trying every new cultivar of the heat-intolerant Japanese hakone grass in the hopes we’d find one that would thrive. The gardening gods answered when Hakonechloa macra ‘Sunflare’ first arrived here in 2017. This clumping woodland grass is a staple of great garden design in cooler climates like much of Europe and the US Pacific Northwest. Here is one of those original plantings this week. This is such an amazing ornamental grass for landscape designers, and we are so blessed to finally have a growable clone for the southeast US.
That is awesome, and thanks for your persistent search! Where did you get this? Wonder if it would still work in zone 8a/b?
Interestingly, it was developed in the cool-summer climate of British Columbia by Lyle G. Courtice, so I’m sure the heat tolerance wasn’t at all anticipated. We think it’s certainly worth trying to see how far south it might thrive.
Please consider a link to the plant collection/catalog when you have these “teasers” for sale.
Hi Merry! The blog has been updated. The plant is currently sold out, but we will have more in stock soon: https://www.plantdelights.com/products/hakonechloa-macra-sunflare-pp-27734