The most important plant in my collection is Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’. I bought this plant in 2008 at Madrona Nurseries.

Before I saw this cultivar I thought, like so many other people still think, that there was only one Hakonechloa and that was ‘Aureola’. Because I found this new cultivar, I started getting the bug for collecting this grass.

Whenever I saw a new one, I had to have it. I have grown my first ‘All Gold’ in a pot since I started my collection on a balcony in Tunbridge Wells. It was centre piece in both my Hampton Court Flower Show displays.

The nice thing about it is as well that the latest plant I added to my collection, ‘Sunflare’, is a sport of ‘All Gold’. The reason this sport was selected is that it gets bright red streaks in Autumn. Another sport of ‘All Gold’, and another one of my favourites, is ‘Stripe it Rich’ which has yellow foliage with a white central line.

Though these three closely related cultivars have yellow foliage, they don’t mind being in a sunnier position. In fact if they get more sun, they will produce foliage that is more yellow and will have a better autumn colour.