I have been very surprised at how tough Hakone grass is once established, mine have handled the summer heat wave and drought quite well, even with some direct sun. I rarely watered them. I have Beni Kaze and it gets quite a bit of sun, and it does fine, no browning at all. I have an All Gold which gets a couple of hours of hot afternoon sun, and it handles it well, just sort of bleaches more yellow. The All Gold that I have in shade looks more delicate and turns light green. Hakone does look more artistic and flowing in full shade, but stays good looking with the heat. Hakone is slow to grow at first and I would water on a regular basis the first and second year.

Wendy, your H. 'albo-striata' IS more upright than 'Aureola' before the arching begins. Now that I see your plant the difference is actually quite considerable. When I Googled...the two looked almost identical except for coloration. Yours also appears to be taller. I'll be back in a minute...I'm going out to measure... OK, I stuck the measure stick directly through the foliage to the ground. EXACTLY 12" tall. We planted 18-20" on center & the hedge's foliage is completely filled-in although the roots remain about a foot apart. Last fall, about 1/3 of my plants bloomed for the first time. The inflorescences were buff-colored & only about 6-8" above the foliage. I wouldn't call the inflorescences striking but they were a nice fall accent to the hedge. It also remains attractive all winter since we only get 12" of snow or more once every few years. Some prices at our garden centers were down this year compared to '06; but, alas...not h. "Aureola'. /T

I think we even plant grass in the Fall in the North. I don't think it is late, we don't have first frost in 7a until around mid November.

Thank you for all your lovely comments. The combination Hakonechloa and Hosta is perfect, but I have potted up almost all my hosta's because of the slugs and snails. Luckily Hakonechloa isn't on their menu. Yes, there is quite a difference in growingspeed and in size between the cultivars. The fastest grower and the largest plant is 'Albo-striata', but it is also not as beautiful as the rest. It is a bit of a sloppy grower, shoots al over the place and not a neat, dense clump. 'Naomi' is like a smaller 'Aureola', but also fast growing. The all green H. macra is an excellent plant, very upright growing. 'Nicolas' is also all green, but a little smaller with better colour in fall. 'Beni Kaze', 'Greenhills' (a small all green) and 'Sunny Delight' (multicoloured) haven't been here for more than 2 seasons.