Deschampsia caespitosa Goldtau

The Deschampsia caespitosa 'Goltau', also known as 'Golden Dew' tufted hairgrass, is a beautiful evergreen grass that is easy to grow and will thrive anywhere, even flowering in shade or dry soil. This variety forms a more compact clump than the species, making it easy to combine with perennials and less demanding of water. A lovely fountain of dark green leaves gives way to a cloud of large green-yellow inflorescences in summer, which turn blonde and golden-yellow in autumn. This perennial plant is attractive all year round, with its golden blonde flowering branches, vigorous foliage, and in winter, the magnificent habit of its culms still bearing faded flowers.

Deschampsia cespitosa is a densely tufted perennial grass, belonging to the poaceae family. It is native to Europe, temperate Asia, and boreal America, where it easily grows in various wet and uncultivated places. Very long-lived, this extremely hardy plant self-seeds quite easily, but the young seedlings can be easily removed.

The 'Goldtau' cultivar is mainly distinguished by its smaller size. The plant forms an upright clump, 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24in) in height when flowering, with a spread that is almost equivalent. Large, airy inflorescences with a delicate texture appear in the midst of the foliage from July to September, carried by stiff culms. They are composed of numerous small flowers that start off greenish, then turn reddish-brown, and finally take on a fabulous golden hue. This flowering becomes increasingly bright as the days go by. The evergreen leaves are green, flat, 2 to 5 mm (1in) wide, very rough, and often very long.

Few plant scenes match the intensity of the almost unreal spectacle of an autumn sun flooding the cloud-like mass of a tufted hairgrass, suddenly becoming very blonde, especially if it has been planted against a backdrop of yew trees. A fascinating and poetic tableau, even more easily reproduced in our gardens as these two very hardy plants tolerate any ordinary soil, even if it is clayey, heavy, or occasionally dry. Deschampsia does not interfere with neighboring plantings. 'Goldtau' will give its best performance in mass plantings, mixed with perennials with ample foliage such as Darmera or Ligularia, or planted in large masses to bring lightness and brightness to a wild garden, in front of a dark foliage screen. It will happily accompany daffodils, jonquils, and numerous other perennials (valerians, heleniums, echinaceas, Japanese anemones, asters). It grows well in a large pot, enhanced by a wall covered in ivy or a flamboyant Virginia creeper in autumn. Finally, its long inflorescences lighten up bouquets, whether fresh or dried.