Garden

[Lilysmom]

@sfnative, this is a better photo of the Japanese Blood Grass.  LM

[sfnative]

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@tedEbear wrote:

@sfnative--------I think Portland will be great!!!  So green and lush!!  The only bottlebrush I have ever had was all that was growing around my elementary school.  So much fun to tickle your face.  In AZ they have a very small bottlebrush that is red and I keep thinking that I will try one of those.  I have had a terrible growing anything like  I could do in California.  Good Luck and have fun.-------tedEbear

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@tedEbear

I remember the red bottlebrush in San Francisco.  They tend to be small trees with fuzzy brushes and are classified as part of the eucalyptus family, if I recall this correctly.  Loved those small trees.  My favorite colorful tree is the "Jacarunda" which I discovered when we lived in San Diego.  Oh my, but these purple trees which start blooming around Memorial day and into June are gorgeous!

Happy Gardening!

[sfnative]

@JustJazzmom

 Love the Hakone you shared in a photo!  I saw this last year at local Starbucks, where it was integrated with several other grasses.  Talk about stumped: my ability to identify this plant hit many brick walls including my "Sunset" gardening book, the local nurseries and that particular Starbucks.  It's simply not easy to identify a tree, flower or grass, unless you've got more information than I had.  (Dumb me forgot to take a photo.)

Thanks, again.

[sfnative]

@Lilysmom

Lillysmom,  Thank you for sharing the beautiful images from your garden.  I'll be taking a close look at the various plants you have and recommendations made.  You've certainly created a wonderful outdoor space!

[JustJazzmom]

@sfnative

I bought mine through Klehm Songsparrow Nursery and it came containerized so all I had to do was unpot and shake out (tease out) roots and plant. Many nurseries by me carry the Hakone 'Aureola' or golden leafed one. I preferred the one that changed color slightly in the fall to that burgundy shading.

I see Bluestone Perennials doesn't carry it this year.

Here is link to Klehm for it. I really like Beni-Kaze too for contrasts of color. For these kinds of plants it's all about the foliage and not necessarily the blooms.

http://www.songsparrow.com/catalog/searchnew2.cfm

[Lilysmom]

@sfnative@JustJazzmom, I fell in love with this plant a couple of years ago.  A nurseryman at one of my favorite garden centers turned me on to the golden variety and the variegated Hakone grass.  They were perennial of the year in Canada (I am guessing) in 2009.

We put in curved stairs in one of our gardens last year and I lined both sides with the golden variety.  I am anxious to see how they survived the winter.  The fantastic thing about this grass is that it gives a real shot of color to a shade, part shade garden.

Hopping down off my box now😄.  LM

[JustJazzmom]

Where I am in zone 7 it turns brown and dies down to the ground for winter. It is just now starting to send up new green growth.

[DiAnne]

@JustJazzmom, @Lilysmom

I live just across Lake Washington from Seattle and I am looking for a solid color grass that is evergreen.  Anything come to mind?

[JustJazzmom]

How tall do you want it? I can recommend Carex morrowii which is a sedge grass. This is typically used as a border edging plant.

[Lilysmom]

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@DiAnne wrote:

@JustJazzmom, @Lilysmom

I live just across Lake Washington from Seattle and I am looking for a solid color grass that is evergreen.  Anything come to mind?

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@DiAnne@JustJazzmom, I planted Corkscrew grass last year for the first time.  I was surprised to see it come through the winter still green and looking good.  I will see if I can find a picture.  LM