Caricology

[AndyC]

A gold star to everyone who knows what Caricology is.
If you are an ignoramous like me then you wouldn't know that Caricology is the study of sedges or to be more precise, the study of Carex. And, if you are not sure what the difference is between a grass and a sedge then if Wikipedia is to be believed then
"The defining structure of the genus Carex is the bottle-shaped bract surrounding each female flower. This structure is called the perigynium or utricle, a modified prophyll. It is typically extended into a "rostrum" or beak, which is often divided at the tip (bifid) into two teeth. The shape, venation, and vestiture (hairs) of the perigynium are important structures for distinguishing Carex species."
I think I will still have to look at the label :lol:
The real reason for posting this topic is to find out if you grow any good sedges worthy of garden space. If had a Carex elata 'Aurea' next to the pond for about ten years and it looks good from when it sprouts it's new growth in the spring right through to late autumn.


I very rarely find a self sown seedling and if I transplant them elsewhere they never seem to do as well in ordinary garden soil as the original one does with its feet in the pond.
Carex pendula and Carex comans bronze will never be allowed back into my garden as I'm still removing seedlings years after the parent plants were banished. However, I was recently taken with a Carex phyllocephala 'Sparkler' so I hope it behaves itself.


Are there other sedges that you could recommend?

[simon]

Andy, the only Carex I have is siderosticha. Nice little clump forming, shade tollerent ground-cover. I have two forms. Variegata has been in my garden for 4 or 5 years now and Banana Boat which I bought last month at the Savill Plant Fair, has just gone in the ground this weekend.

[David Matzdorf]

Carex pendula is indeed an invasive nightmare. I spent years hauling thousands of seedlings out of my old garden and it has even tried to invade my current front garden, although I've never noticed one growing nearby.

I grow C. comans 'Bronze Form' on my green roof, where it seeds itself about pretty freely, but I tolerate it because it isn't difficult to keep under control. I do sometimes weed out dull-coloured seedlings, as they range from greyish-buff/dead-looking to vivid orangey-bronze.

Carex oshimensis 'Evergold' has been growing on the roof right since the beginning. There are too many of them in one spot (about 5, I think) and I must get it together to move 2 or 3 of them, but each one has gradually made quite a clump. Tough and not at all invasive. They like the relatively damp conditions at the bottom of the roof, next to where the rainwater drain is located.

Luzula nivea is a rush, not a sedge, but they're very closely related. This is also aggressively invasive by seed and I dead-head it every year in the numerous locations where it has become established on the roof. It's also extremely difficult to excavate out when one gets too many of them. But its vivid white flowers are exceptionally conspicuous for a grass-relative, so I persevere with it.

[AndyC]

Thanks guys, both C. oshimensis and C. siderosticha yellow forms look good, I will look out for them.
Simon, the blurb says that C.siderosticha likes moist soil, is that what you can give it?

[conrad]

I grow Carex oshimensis 'Everillo' in a dry raised bed under a large tree. It gets no dIrect sunlight except for a few weeks in spring when the sun is high enough to shine over the apex of the house roof but the tree above hasn't leafed out.
It's a great plant for adding a splash of brightness and it doesn't seem to object too much to the very dry position where it's growing.