Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra) is an attractive, clumping ornamental grass that looks stunning planted as a ground cover along a walkway or on a bank. The leaves are usually a bright green or yellow, but a new variety is much more showy, with burgundy-colored leaf blades.

‘Red Wind’ forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Beni Kaze’) produces the same soft green leaf blades as other types of forest grass in summer, but once the cooler weather of autumn arrives, the leaf blades take on a burgundy color that compliments other fall foliage. ‘Red Wind’ grows 2 to 3 feet tall and wide in light shade, and is hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9.

For more information on this new variety of Japanese forest grass, go to: Song Sparrow Perennial Farm and Nursery.