Japanese Sedge: A Carex to Consider
by Marie Harrison
Browsing the gardening catalogs in spring never fails to be an exercise in self-control. Always, more desirable plants are offered than most folks can afford. However, most of us are able to find something new to add to our gardens.
Several years ago I found a Japanese sedge that struck my fancy. The description read:
“Carex morrowii ‘Aurea-variegata’ (Japanese sedge). Graceful swirls of handsomely variegated leaves, green with a central yellow stripe, form neat, rounded clumps and are fully evergreen in the South and partially so in more northerly areas. 10 to 12 inches tall and easily grown. Zones 5 to 9. One-quart container. Each $12.95.”
Beside the wording was, of course, an enticing picture of the sedge.
How could I resist? Frugal gardener that I am, I ordered a single plant. After all, experienced gardeners know that not every plant will grow and flourish in their garden. Sometimes even our best efforts result in dismal failure. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Gardeners also figure that if a plant thrives, it will increase and can soon be divided. If it dies, we remind ourselves that minimal resources were wasted.
The Japanese sedge is a success story. It flourished in a partly shady site in the back yard. As always, I dug the soil, added organic matter, mixed in a bit of fertilizer and planted my new acquisition. With regular water and minimal attention, it eventually grew into a sizeable clump that could be divided into three plants. Subsequent divisions yielded enough plants to make the impact I had envisioned.
From just one plant came enough to make the desired impact in the landscape. Photo by Marie Harrison
In the last couple of years I’ve noticed some reversion among the plants to their less attractive solid green form. I observed, too, that the solid green plants were larger and more vigorous than the variegated plants. Before long, if nature had been allowed to take its course, the variegated plants would have been smothered and overcome by the stronger green plants. I circumvented nature’s plan by digging and dividing the clumps again. The dark green plants have now been discarded and the desirable variegated ones replanted. In the process, a dozen or so divisions were potted up to be planted elsewhere in the garden or to be shared with friends.
Variegated plants may revert back to a more vigorous solid green form. Photo by Marie Harrison
Japanese sedge closely resembles a small ornamental grass, but close inspection will reveal several differences. While sedges are grasslike plants, they have distinctive triangular stems. Sedges belong to the Cyperaceae Family that encompasses about 100 genera with up to 5,000 species. In addition, many of the species have cultivars. Do not be misled into thinking that all sedges are desirable landscape plants. Some genera are desirable, but others are pernicious weeds.
If you get more divisions than you can use, pot them up and offer them to friends. Photo by Marie Harrison
In late winter or early spring, brownish insignificant flowers bloom. By this time the plants may look winter-weary, so a trimming may be needed to spruce them up. In some years I have not managed to get mine trimmed, but they seem to recover from the ravages of winter despite my neglect. The newly emerging leaves eventually hide the dead or dying leaves.
A sizable clump of Japanese sedge can be divided for new plants. Photo by Marie Harrison
Gardeners will find many uses for the adaptable Japanese sedge. Use it in the foreground of a shady border along with other shade-loving perennials. The sedge offers an interesting contrast of color and texture to ferns, caladiums, ground orchids, peacock gingers, impatiens and other such bedfellows. The sedge has never been obtrusive, but it offers a definitive edge and transition from the bed to the lawn or the mulch in front of it
Native to the low mountain woodlands of Japan, Carex morrowii is adaptable to a wide range of soils and is virtually pest free. Several cultivars are available, including ‘Silver Sceptre’ (Zones 5-9), with narrow foliage and white-edged leaves forming an arching clump 12 to 15 inches tall; ‘Goldband’ (Zones 5–9), having pale-yellow leaf margins and growing 9 to 12 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide; ‘Ice Dance’ (Zones 5–9), sporting green leaves with white edges and growing to 15 inches tall and just a bit wider; and C. morrowii var. temnolepsis ‘Silk Tassel’ (Zones 6–9), bearing white-edged, gracefully arching, fine-textured leaves about 24 inches tall.
Many other species of Carex deserve consideration. Plants Delights Nursery (919-772-4794, www.plantdelights.com) shows pictures of a number of species on their website. Search the internet for more information and pictures. It may be that one of the Japanese sedge species or cultivars will add exactly the element your garden has been missing.
Marie Harrison is a Panhandle Master Gardener who is also a Judge and Floral Design Instructor for the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs. Her books can be found on Alibris.com.
© 2014 Marie Harrison. Originally published in Florida Gardening, Dec / Jan 2014. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.