IDEAS & REALITY: Carex, Hosta and me

I like and utilize many sedges (Carex spp.) at my place, most of them naturally occurring. I recognize and encourage them. One can sometimes purchase Carex sedges, although rarely at your local garden center. Two of the best mail order options are Prairie Moon Nursery (MN) and Hoffman Nursery (NC) although the latter is wholesale. I also sometimes transplant from the wild.

Carex is by far the largest plant genus in the Midwest flora, each state with well over 150 species and almost all are native. Related, I was able and honored to assist and direct my long-time good friend and super botanist Paul Rothrock in the production of two widely acclaimed sedge volumes, the second (published in 2021) dealing exclusively with this large, challenging, interesting and important (yet underutilized) genus. The first volume (2009) dealt with the nearly 100 non-Carex species found in Indiana and the adjacent states. Related, I organized and hosted a symposium to honor Paul and his wonderful sedge publications, especially the Carex tome which has the same coverage range as the first sedge volume. That multi day special event with field trips took place in Bloomington (IN) in May of 2022, but not on campus at Indiana University or supported by IU, even though Paul was emeritus faculty there. The IU Biology Department deems natural history study archaic -- great pun for those in the know. This rejection is an insanely foolish action that has decimated that kind of training at most universities. For example, there are no longer botany departments and very few plant specialists or botany courses offered at any of the 40 colleges and universities in the Hoosier state. Indiana is not alone in that ignominious characterization. I bluntly address the issue in the first presentation of the symposium. All the talks were recorded. They along with other associated information and visuals are posted on this website (see Rothrock Sedge Symposium). Anton Reznicek (Univ Michigan) was one of the speakers. Tony is regarded as the top authority on Carex, bar none and his botanical expertise extends well beyond sedges. I highly recommend all the presentations! but for you gardeners especially Kevin Tungesvick's Landscaping with Carex: Challenges & Opportunities. For the occasion I had specially made for all attendees a gorgeous cloisonne pin with the phrase SEDGE SAVVY. A good gardener should be. The pin can be seen among the visuals along with a similarly decorated tribute cake. I did the same with a button entitled SEDGES HAVE EDGES. They do. You should know that by comparison the stems of grasses are round, hollow and jointed, while rushes are round but solid. My friends Jennie & David Orr at Blue Aster Studio (Bloomington) produced the button and pin. As inexplicably disgusting as the IU shun was the fact that, although asked, the Indiana Native Plant Society also did not support the symposium.

I use about 25 Carex species in my garden, some like C. grayii (mace head sedge) and C. sprengelii (long-beaked sedge) as stand-alone specimen clumps, some as part of the mixed species grass / ground-cover substitute in lawn areas and some like C. jamesii as part of an apron adornment -- a look I like and promote around the base of trees. I also use some sedges as a graminoid complement to broad-leaved ornamental (esp. hostas) and several in a woodland setting (esp. C. communis, C. pensylvanica and C. plantaginea). If provided adequate water, sedges like C. bromoides (tussock sedge) and others can be very impressive, with mounding clumps 2-3+ feet wide. If I lived a couple of hundred miles further southeast I would definitely have C. fraseriana, an Appalachian species with unique white flowers and fruit in spring which are complemented by stunning broad strap-shaped dark green evergreen leaves (see middle pic above). I sometimes use the name sparkler sedge as the inflorescence reminds me of such, The best wide-leaved Carex I can do in central Indiana is seersucker sedge (C. plantaginea). Why isn't this evergreen beauty a common element in more Midwest gardens? It tolerates lots of shade and the only downside seems to be attempting in sites that regularly dry-out which causes browning of the sedge's leaf ends.

While almost 100% of the naturally midwestern Carex are native, as I have pointed out numerous times in my rants, my classes and elsewhere, (1) the designation NATIVE often DOES NOT mean what most think it does (what they want it to) in part because our gardens are manmade and (2) nor does it mean that the "native" species are therefore automatically good ornamentals. Many pretty and/or other otherwise appealing native plants have an aspect, a behavioral issue or two that might disqualify them from consideration (e.g., flopping, ugly/unruly late in the season, short anthesis (flowering), weedy (tendency to aggressively spread), et cetera. Often, the problem is how we choose to use them. The Carex in the above pic (C. glaucodea, BLUE GRAY SEDGE) has beautiful blue foliage with somewhat flattened sprays. It is attention getting. Thus I got the idea that it could be a good ornamental. However, while still a beautiful plant unto itself, I found that as a low near ground-cover, as the season progresses its scapes flop (i.e., once the fruiting stalks laden with perigynia are produced) causing it to have the appearance of being stepped on repeatedly -- perigynium is a fruit type unique to Carex. Putting it mildly, the look I created was NOT pleasing. Again, see the first pic above although the appearance with the sedge in place was even more unappealing in person. The pic to the right is the same place but with the sedge removed for you to visualize the difference -- pic taken before I put down wood chip mulch. I briefly considered the idea of gathering and clipping the scapes so as to have just the lovely leaves but quickly decided that was an absurd notion, yet another maintenance activity and not worth the effort.

The hosta featured above is a nearly two years in the ground 'So Sweet,' a cultivar of Hosta plantaginea. I am especially fond of august lily (H. plantaginea) since its flowers are larger, appear a little later, and it is the only type of fragrant hosta. Fragrance is a prime factor I favor in my garden choices. August lilies also tolerate more sun than the standard hosta, in fact need more light to flower. I have about 20 different august lily cultivars and nearly 50 specimens, with about that many non-fragrant hosta cultivars. Small numbers compared to most hosta devotees/addicts -- my gardening design philosophy is different, but especially because hostas offer nothing for at least five months each year and there are many interesting plants besides hostas and I find the diverse look more pleasing, more naturalistic. Moreover, unlike suggested by many, it has been my experience that deer DO NOT prefer august lilies to the other hostas, and at my place the deer go after Solomon Seal (Polygonatum) first. I do my best to dissuade the occasional visiting deer (and other herbivores) by visually appealing barriers and by frequent spraying with a non-lethal concoction (which includes lots of my urine) and ample Milorganite. -- SIDE NOTE: When weeding I recommend you first create a clear zone around your specimens. I recommend this for several reasons. BTW the white in the barrier in the top and bottom pics above is the rim of a sunken bathtub, a technique I got from my former prof and great plantsman Wesley Whiteside. I find the look appealing. It also provides use for a plumbing relic as well as a physical barrier for a habitat I can specially utilize and modify. The plants in this tub are spider lily (Hymenocallis caroliniana), 'Coral' toucan Canna which I lift and store at the end of the year, 'The Rocket' Ligularia, C. glaucodea, and Hosta plantaginea 'Stained Glass' back left. A similar native blue foliage sedge is C. granularis. It is more common, especially to the north, and its older leaves have reddish streaks. There is possibly of confusion, although infrequently, with purchased plantings of the Eurasian C. flacca (AKA C. glauca) often sold as 'Blue Zinger' or simply blue sedge. -- All hosta are Asian in origin which is likely a turnoff to native plant zealots.

My use of the pretty Carex glaucodea as a complementing ground-cover around and under the hosta turned out to be a bad idea, at least it was to my eye. Bad ideas are just that BAD, although often impossible to know until tried, yet too often in life and especially in our gardens we are ignorant and/or let what we want to be true cloud our judgment, prevent us from being objective, and from a willingness to change, to admit a mistake. Think hardheaded, hidebound and foolish. We all make mistakes, Your goal should be to reduce the frequency and to not repeat (i.e., to learn). Sadly, as Dostoyevsky told us, It's easier for a man to lie to himself than anyone. And, having done so, that man will be unable to discern truth (be a good judge). Are you being honest with yourself about your garden, your gardening choices and otherwise? If not, why not? As I said at the end of my aforementioned Sedge Symposium talk, SUCCESS AWAITS THE EFFORT. Also, my occasional classes are always entitled BEING A BETTER GARDENER. That is always my goal. You? In closing, I'll repeat a Marx quote I use a lot (i.e., Julius Marx AKA Groucho), "Learn from the mistakes of others because you will never live long enough to make them all yourself."