Carex, not disappointing

This is the time of the year when the sedges really impress me. Sure they may have been protected from the coldest weather by a blanket of snow, but look at the lovely greenness!

That's Carex 'Everest', showing more green than anything else grassy in my garden right now. The ornamental grasses are brown and most of the bamboos are too, but the Carex just won't quit.

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Carex 'Evergold' looks similar to 'Everest', but has an important difference:

It's green on the leaf edges while 'Everest' is green in the middle -- but both are looking so good right now!

This one is different: Carex 'Blue Zinger':

This particular one is protected a bit by my hypertufa pot, but this plant is in a few places in my garden and all of them hold their blue color through pretty much every winter. (It's also the only blue grass-like plant in my garden that the rabbits do not devour every year.)

Carex 'Ice Dance' is similar to 'Everest' in variegation, but is so much sturdier and more vigorous:

This spreads quite quickly, which means it's easy to have it growing in several places in the yard.

All of these have foliage that looks quite good at the end of winter, and I'm always tempted to leave the plant alone. Once the new growth comes in though, you quickly see that the leaves that overwintered are a bit tattered and damaged -- so it's best to give these guys a trimming before the new growth starts coming in. (I'm saying that half as advice to you and half as a reminder to myself!)

Here's 'Evergold' when it was fresh:

If you compare to the photo earlier in the post you'll see that the fresh foliage is so much better, so don't hesitate to clip!

One sedge that doesn't look great every winter is Carex 'Beatlemania':

This may be my favorite little sedge during the summer, but its curly foliage takes a beating every winter -- it comes back strong though. I have no problems giving this one a haircut every year.

So these sedges may not be perfect but they give me a lift during the winter, when glimpses of grassy green are not a common thing.

What's your favorite cold-hardy sedge?

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