Our sedges

DEFINITION OF TERMS:

  • KEYSTONE means they are listed by National Wildlife Federation as core plants for a wildlife garden in my ecoregion (Ecoregion 8).
  • NOT QUITE NATIVE means they are slightly out of range but adjacent to NYS as determined by GoBotany and NY Flora Atlas.
  • Otherwise the plant is a NY-native or native to the area noted.

Resources on sedges

Mt. Cuba Center: Carex for the Mid-Atlantic – Excellent resource!

Appalachian sedge (Carex appalachica)

Appalachian sedge

Appalachian sedge is a delicate little sedge, nicely clumping. I have a little patch of this charming plant.

If I look carefully, sometimes I find little seedlings that I replant in a new patch.

I hope to have many more!

Blue sedge (Carex glaucodea)  

Blue sedge
Blue sedge ©Janet Allen

I think this is blue sedge, but I’m not sure. I haven’t been as careful about identification as I should be when I buy plants. Whatever it is, I like its form and growth pattern.

Plantain sedge (Carex plantaginea)

Plantain sedge

An attractive sedge I think.

No one would ever buy a sedge for its flower. Still, though, it’s attractive and interesting.

Plantain sedge flower

MIDWEST NATIVE Palm sedge (Carex muskingumensis)

I liked palm sedge so I transplanted seedlings around the yard. But after a while I discovered that without the support of surrounding plants, they flattened out and looked pretty messy so I removed these extras. I guess it’s not a great loss now that I know they’re not native here in NYS.

Palm sedge

It’s quite a bit taller than most sedges I have, and it has a palm-like branching structure.

Palm sedge flowers

Sedges “flower,” too. Here’s the palm sedge flower.

Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica)

We bought one of these with the expectation that it will either reproduce by itself or I’ll be able to divide it. What I want eventually is to have a whole patch of this charming little sedge, just like what we saw at Garden in the Woods, where we purchased the plant.

Pennsylvania sedge

Wildlife: Birds

Silver sedge (Carex platyphylla)

Silver sedge

We bought a large pot of these at Garden in the Woods. I divided the fairly large plant into four pieces. I hope they survive because a patch of this sedge would be very pretty. Bill Cullina in his Ferns, Moss, and Grasses book says it’s his favorite sedge.