Carex

This collection by Crug Farm from Fansipan in Vietnam of this very distinctive clumping grass is especially yummy with showy pink flowers in this form. The evergreen leaves are bold, broad and lightly pleated with the flower heads mingling among the upper reaches of the leaves. Solidly dramatic!

This Southeastern native is a very exotic looking Carex - so much so that it was placed in a separate genus Cymophyllus but recent DNA work confirms it is a Carex. The wide green semi-horizontal leaves look far more exotic than a grass and the truly unusual white flowers just adds confirmation. Shade and moist, these are divisions from our plant of many years which is important as this is threatened in the wild by habitat loss and grazing.

Ahh the beach, sun, salt, spray and....botanizing? What can we say we can't help ourselves, and locally when doing some beachside botanizing what is likely to draw you in is that perfect beach body, hairy and bigheaded, that's right we're talking Carex macrocephala, the big-headed sedge. Normal grassy sedges have edges leaves but with far more flower power than your average Carex. Rare in cultivation so sandy and well-draining if you want to be safe, but will likely tolerate a wide range of conditions like its brethren.