I'm not much of a garden designer when it comes to winter interest. I love summer, bright color and lush foliage so much that they usually take precedence in my plant selections. So I'm indebted to my plant of the week for its role in adding a small measure of structure, color and coverage to my winter beds.
Carex buchananii is an amazingly carefree plant that self-seeds easily but is also easy to weed out. It is bronzy-brown all year with additional warm red tones in colder weather. (It's an excellent leaf-catcher in winter too, as you can see below.)
Its fecundity has resulted in many free plants for me over the five years since I started growing it, and its appeal in my garden is in the way the mounding groups of plants cover bare soil, especially in winter.
I find the older plants get a bit big and scruffy, so I prefer to use younger one- and two-year-old plants in the garden - I always have plenty of seedlings available for the job and they're easy to transplant.
Here's what Monrovia has to say about Carex buchananii.
I have this New Zealand native sedge around the base of Arctostaphylos x 'Austin Griffiths' because mine seem to manage with no supplemental water in summer, perfect for 'Austin Griffiths'. I like the way the brown enhances the mahogany color of the manzanita bark and the bronze foliage of the flax in the background.
New Zealand Hair Sedge works as a lovely brown accent in between many showier summer players, but I'm taking real delight in its addition to the look of my winter garden.
This post joins in the "favorite plant of the week" meme over at danger garden. Check the comments there for more favorites from other garden bloggers this week.
Carex buchananii is an amazingly carefree plant that self-seeds easily but is also easy to weed out. It is bronzy-brown all year with additional warm red tones in colder weather. (It's an excellent leaf-catcher in winter too, as you can see below.)
Its fecundity has resulted in many free plants for me over the five years since I started growing it, and its appeal in my garden is in the way the mounding groups of plants cover bare soil, especially in winter.
I find the older plants get a bit big and scruffy, so I prefer to use younger one- and two-year-old plants in the garden - I always have plenty of seedlings available for the job and they're easy to transplant.
Here's what Monrovia has to say about Carex buchananii.
| Cold hardiness zones: | 5-9 |
| Light Needs: | Partial to full sun |
| Sunset climate zones: | 1 - 9, 14 - 24, 28 - 45 |
| Water Needs: | Best with regular watering - weekly or more often in extreme heat. (I find this is not necessarily the case in Portland and my garden.) |
| Average landscape size: | Moderate growing 2 to 3 ft. tall and wide. |
| Growth rate: | Slow |
I have this New Zealand native sedge around the base of Arctostaphylos x 'Austin Griffiths' because mine seem to manage with no supplemental water in summer, perfect for 'Austin Griffiths'. I like the way the brown enhances the mahogany color of the manzanita bark and the bronze foliage of the flax in the background.
New Zealand Hair Sedge works as a lovely brown accent in between many showier summer players, but I'm taking real delight in its addition to the look of my winter garden.
This post joins in the "favorite plant of the week" meme over at danger garden. Check the comments there for more favorites from other garden bloggers this week.
I have a couple of these in various spots around the garden. They always look kind of dead, mine are never any color but brown. I like yours massed around the base of the Arctostaphylos.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit you have to look closely to see the warmer tones, but they are there in winter. Maybe grouping your Carex might make them appeal to you more?
DeleteI love that grouping underneath the Arctostaphylos...stunning, Jane!
ReplyDeleteAnd to think it took no trouble or thought from me - they turned up there and I left them!
DeleteWhat Scott said. I want to copy this!
DeleteI am sure to have starts in spring, Heather.
DeleteI love it! I think I had C. testacea, it looked exactly like this but was much younger and therefore smaller. Unfortunately it's dead now, after the heat we had recently, so I'm enjoying seeing your beautiful, thick plants! They look excellent.
ReplyDeleteI like C. testacea, too, Amy. It's color is a little more olive than C. buchananii, and I've been eying it for the garden myself.
DeleteIf your wonderful description of the plant hadn't sold me on it then that photo with the 'Austin Griffiths' certainly would have. Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteLoree, I may be biased, but I think 'Austin Griffiths' would make pretty much any plant at its feet look good.
DeleteThis was a strong contender for my fave as well...maybe next time.
ReplyDeleteRicki, great minds...!
DeleteI agree Jane although I will admit it took me a few years to warm up to this Carex. I bought one plant and now have many growing under my pear tree. I love how you've partnered yours with Mr. Griffiths and the dark Phormium. Very nice indeed.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh when people would initially refer to it as "that dead grass" - guess I just like brown :-)
DeleteIt's a beauty in the winter garden. They really stand out grouped together :)
ReplyDeleteJenni, it has taken me all this time to learn the lesson of multiples... ;-)
DeleteIt looks so beautiful underneath the Arctostaphylos! Great job.
ReplyDeleteI've killed that Carex I don't know how many times, and it don't reseed here, either. It hates me!
I'd have thought it would love your climate, but maybe it is getting more summer water than I realized here and likes that...
DeleteThis looks like an interesting sedge. I've been considering getting more sedges for the garden, though I was thinking more of grey's or sprengell's.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking it would like your semi-woodland conditions, Jason.
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