Carex (sedge) is the Rodney Dangerfield of the ornamental grass world..."it don't get no respect". Sedges are mostly evergreen ornamental grasses that add dramatic form and blend texturally with most plants. Many sedges are native plants and are easy-to-grow shade perennials for the woodland garden.
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Carex (sedge) is well-suited to line pathways or fill open spaces in a woodland garden. In form, carex is a perfect ornamental grass substitute for liriope and ophiopogon. Carex foliage color includes green, blue, gold/orange or variegated. Carex plants generally form arching mounds, although some sedges can also be upright.
Great companion plants to hostas, most carex perform their best when grown in a moist location. A few are drought-tolerant. Sedges are somewhat tolerant of neglect and are resistant to deer. If you're looking to buy an ornamental carex grass for shade, our current list of carex for sale is below.
Since 1988, Plant Delights Nursery has been the choice of serious gardeners and plant collectors looking for the best and rarest perennial plants. We are pleased to have received the Perennial Plant Association Retail Award in 2011, the American Horticulture Society Commercial Award in 2002, and to have been selected as one of the Best Mail Order Plant Sources - Garden Design Magazine 2010. Welcome to our family of plant lovers!
This superb sedge, native from Quebec south to South Carolina, is a must for shade gardeners. Naturally occurring in dry woodlands, even underneath hemlocks, Carex appalachica is adaptable to almost all garden conditions...except swamps. The very narrow, weeping, mop-top looking deer-resistant foliage makes an airy, 18" wide clump. When used singly or en masse, the textural contrast near bolder elements is simply stunning. If you've been looking for a shady replacement for an unmown lawn or a hairpiece that matches your green thumb, look no further. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
I picked this up in Arizona in 2003, where it was widely sold, grown, and promoted as the California native, Carex tumulicola, until it was finally outed as the European Carex divulsa. I'll bet the West Coast eco-nazi, ethnic-profiling crowd who'd been promoting its use were more upset than Mel Gibson locked in a synagogue. Despite the mixup, Carex divulsa is a fabulous sedge and has been a stellar performer in both our heat and humidity. Carex divulsa makes a lush, evergreen mop-top clump of narrow green foliage to 15" tall x 30" wide that is equally at home in moist shade or dry sun. The clumps are topped with tiny bronze flower stalks in late April...truly fabulous! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This selection of Carex dolichostachya var. glaberrima is a delightful easy-to-grow but difficult to pronounce addition to any plant collection, via a Barry Yinger expedition to Japan. This evergreen deer-resistant carex has narrow, dark green leaves with a nice golden border. Carex 'Kaga nishiki' forms a delightful small clump, 10" tall x 20" wide, perfect for the rock garden or perhaps a woodland border...a good grower...striking! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Even with a wide native range from NC to the West Coast, this rare native is not well-known in gardening circles. Although it naturally occurs on limestone outcrops, it has been fabulous for years in our acid NC soils. The drought-tolerant, 8" wide, symmetrical clumps of soft green, needle-like foliage resemble little green porcupines...pettable porcupines. This delightful deer-resistant sedge is great in a woodland or rock garden! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(syn: Carex glauca) This recent rich-colored Emerald Coast Growers selection of the European native Carex flacca has wonderfully narrow, glaucous leaves that make a delightfully wispy-textured, evergreen, deer-resistant groundcover. Although Carex flacca prefers moist alkaline soils, it has proven to be quite adaptable to a wide range of garden conditions and soil types. Carex flacca 'Blue Zinger' forms a nice 2' wide patch in 5 years...much more clump forming than the straight species. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(syn: Carex 'Gilt', Carex 'Fisher's Form') This is a truly great woodland plant. The stiff leaf blades, to 12" long x 0.5" wide, make an evergreen, rigidly symmetrical clump to 24" wide. The deer-resistant foliage is vertically banded white and dark green...much more white than Carex morrowii 'Variegatus' but otherwise identical in growth habit. Looks great winter and summer! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Everyone who sees this clumping carex can't leave without it. From a 1970s Barry Yinger expedition to Japan comes this hard-to-find but easy-to-grow selection of Carex morrowii temnolepis v. temnolepis. The 2' wide clump of wispy, thread-like, deer-resistant foliage is striped white-and-green...giving it a silver sheen in the garden. Imagine a 70-year-old with a mop-top cut that hasn't been introduced to hair color and you get the picture. Carex' Silk Tassel' is great in the woodland garden...either in a mass planting or as a specimen near the garden pond...absolutely outstanding! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(aka: Carex 'Finwhite', 'Carfitol') Carex 'Everest' is a lovely white-edged sport of the popular Japanese Carex oshimensis 'Evergold', discovered in 2006 by Pat Fitzgerald of Ireland's Fitzgerald's Nursery. Carex 'Everest' is another wonderful textural ornamental grass for the deer-resistant woodland garden pallette. The 10" tall x 2' wide graceful evergreen mounds of white ribbons are just fabulous, either as specimen plants or used in swirling drifts! Although the EU and US patent offices encourage non-sensical names, the breeder insists that Carex 'Everest' is the cultivar name. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(aka: Carex morrowii or hachijoensis) This is one of the most beautiful of all the sedges we grow. The narrow foliage 15" long x 0.15" wide, arches slightly upward, then out to form a 2' wide clump. Each leaf is vividly striped dark green and creamy gold. The dramatic weeping habit (like nurseries when they run out of stock) lends itself to a number of landscape settings...as a woodland border, near a water feature, or used as an eye-catching mass...stunning! As with all sedges, it's highly deer-resistant. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
From Japan comes one of the most attention-drawing plants (cures ADD) in our entire garden (and without flowers). This gorgeous, upright, evergreen deer-resistant sedge resembles a grove of miniature variegated palm trees with cute little whorls of dramatic white- and green-striped foliage atop each of the 12-15" tall stems. This is a real eye-catcher when planted among ferns in the woodland garden...prefers moist-to-normal garden conditions. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
In mesic (a region with a well-balanced moisture supply) woodlands from Maine south to Alabama, you can find this amazing native understory sedge which until recently had been almost non-existent in US gardens. The evergreen 8" tall x 1' wide deer-resistant clumps are composed of 1" wide, powder blue, pleated leaves. The clumps are topped with insignificant flowers in late spring, but grow this for the textural contrast in the woodland garden. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Native from Maine south to Texas, Carex retroflexa (related to C. texensis) can be found in openings of dry deciduous forests. Our particular form is one we collected in 2004 from northern Louisiana's Bienville Parish, where the infamous Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were gunned down in 1934. For us, Carex retroflexa has made a stunning, very fine textured, mop-top form...a nice complement to the bold textures of hostas in open woodland. Each clump forms a 6" tall x 18" wide mound. We have seen a bit of seeding in moist sites which is fine with us. I think you'll really like this great but little-known native. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
We really love this woodland carex, shared with us by Alabama native plant guru Jan Midgley...originally collected by Charles Bryson in Coahoma Co. Mississippi. Carex socialis is native from Illinois south to Texas, where it can be found in low deciduous woodlands. Carex socialis forms a graceful 10" tall x 2' wide, deer-resistant, slowly expanding patch composed of very narrow green leaves...a superb textural contrast around ferns and hostas. Carex socialis has proven to be amazingly drought-tolerant in our trials. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Carex 'Rekohu Sunrise' comes to us from Terry and Lindsey Hatch of Joy Plants in New Zealand, who discovered it as a nursery sport on their native Carex trifida. Rekohu is the indigenous Maori name for nearby Chatham Islands. Carex 'Rekohu Sunrise' makes an evergreen, 18" tall x 2' wide, deer-resistant clump composed of wide, arching green leaves edged in yellow. In our garden, it has so far survived 7 degrees F. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Carex texensis is another of the great native sedges for textural use in the garden. Native from New York west to Nebraska and south to...you guessed it, Texas, Carex texensis can be found in dry meadows and open woodlands. In the garden, Carex texensis makes a charming 5" tall x 1' wide clump of narrow, wispy, evergreen foliage that can spread out to 30". Come to think of it, there isn't much wispiness coming out of Texas these days...unless you include Austin. In low traffic areas, Carex texensis is often planted on 6" centers as a seldom-mown lawn substitute. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(aka Carex 'Bunny Blue') Carex laxiculmis is another superb native that can be found in moist woods from Canada south to Florida. Carex 'Hobb' is a particularly nice blue-foliaged selection introduced by the Head Brothers of Seneca, South Carolina. Expect Carex 'Hobb' to make a slowly spreading 18" wide deer-resistant clump of 1' long x 0.5" wide evergreen foliage...very nice when used either as a specimen or in a mass planting. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This 1994 PDN introduction was found by our friend, the late Wolfgang Oehme (of Oehme and Van Sweden--famous landscape designers). This sport from Wolfgang's garden has the typical growth habit of the US native Carex muskingumensis (resembling a 1' tall palm tree) but with a clear yellow border around the leaves. Although the plant emerges green, the vivid yellow stripes appear soon after. As with all sedges, Carex 'Oehme' has excellent deer resistance. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Carex cherokeensis is another of our favorites from this wonderful ornamental grass genus. Carex cherokeensis is a native sedge, home from Missouri east to North Carolina and south to Florida where it can be found in a wide range of conditions from acid seeps to dolomite glades. Our two-year-old clumps are 2' tall x 4' wide, and topped in late spring with wispy flower spikes that reach a foot above the mound of luscious evergreen foliage. We're growing our plant in average garden soils, but it is often found in very moist habitats in the wild. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
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