Acorus ‘Ogon’

* Common name: Golden Japanese sweet flag

* Botanical name: Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’

* What it is: A short grassy perennial with golden blades.

* Size: 2 feet tall and wide.

* Where to use: Ideal around water gardens or in any shady to partly shady setting, especially ones with damp soil. Along creek banks also ideal.

* Care: Cut foliage to an inch or two at end of winter. Scatter Milorganite or similar higher-nitrogen organic granular fertilizer over the bed each spring. Clumps can be dug, divided and expanded after end-of-winter cutback.

* Great partner: Large-leafed hosta (green or gold-variegated).