variegated sedge
© Richie Steffen / Great Plant Picks
© Richie Steffen / Great Plant Picks
© Marietta O’Byrne
This evergreen grass-like perennial is a real trooper, requiring little care in return for its bold cream and green variegation. The wide blades have clean, creamy white margins that starkly contrast with the bright rich green centers. Its rhizomatous growth habit makes it a great groundcover. The growth is dense and will prevent weeds from sprouting.
Plant Type: perennial
Foliage Type: evergreen
Plant Height (10-year): 2 ft. 0 in. (0.61 meters)
Plant Width/Spread (10-year): 3 ft. 0 in. (0.91 meters)
Hardiness: USDA Zones 5 to 9
Sun/Light Exposure: full sun or light to dappled shade
Water Requirements: regular watering in sun, occasional watering in shade
Resistant to: deer
This evergreen sedge grows best in full sun or light, open, or dappled shade. In sunny locations provide regular summer watering, in shade it can tolerate drying out and only needs occasional watering. It will grow well in well-drained to moist soils and will tolerate sandy and clay locations. Cut back hard in late winter to allow fresh new growth to fill in.
Selected by horticulturist Barry Yinger during a collection trip to Japan and was introduced in the US by Hines Nursery in 1996. It has previously been marketed as Carex morrowii 'Ice Dance'. Carex morrowii, however, is a clump forming plant with narrower leaves.
Text and photos ©2020 Great Plant Picks/Elisabeth Carey Miller Garden except where otherwise noted
Funded by the Pendleton and Elisabeth Carey Miller Charitable Foundation, The Seattle Times, and Individual Donors
Administered by the Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden