Words & Photos Cynthia Philp
West Coast gardeners are blessed in January. Yes, we may get a cold snap, or even a wollop of heavy snow, but our gardens continue to push through the season. There’s always something delightful to find outside – a hellebore or heath blossom, or tender shoots of bulbs pushing up through the soil.
While it may be too early to launch into full-scale gardening projects, I delight in the plants I have ready to showcase. December through February isn’t the time to fuss with floral planters like we do in the summer; instead, it’s the perfect time to slow down, simplify and enjoy the beauty that one cold-hardy plant can provide. Elevating a single plant in a pretty pot to highlight its durability and beauty calls for a special specimen.
Sedges are quickly becoming my favourite “off season” plant. A tough plant able to grow in almost all environments, sedges do well in poor soils, are drought tolerant and some even thrive in damp conditions. A low-maintenance, cool-season perennial, their thin strappy foliage does the sturdy work of filling in and providing a backdrop for showy summer planters. Starting in November, however, they take the spotlight.
One of my favourite sedges is Carex Comans (Bronze Curls). Easily found as two- or four-inch pots in garden centres every spring, these wisps of brittle brown leaves are, quite honestly, depressing to look at. Bronze Curls (top right) will reward your faith by eventually filling in with an explosion of red-tinted leaves that dangle over the edge of your pot and dance in the slightest breeze. Seen in the morning or evening sun, they appear to glow. Comfortable to -10°C, drought tolerant and not fussy about lighting conditions, this plant delights with its graceful trailing wisps of colour.
I’ve recently experimented with Red Hook Sedge (Belinda’s Find). Also hardy to -10°C, I’m trying this plant out in a winter hanging basket, as I love its intense red edging. Tucked in with Sorbet Red viola and Solar Flare pansy, it creates a cozy winter pairing.
Sedges and ornamental grasses are often confused with each other. While sedges usually have triangular or three-sided stems, grasses have hollow stems, but their growth habits can be so similar they can be interchangeable in a planter. Currently, I have Festuca glauca (Pepindale Blue Fescue) in large ceramic urns on the north side of my home (at left). These durable plants have withstood intense heat and drought this summer, yet are hardy to -30°C. I love their compact soft blue-green fluffy form. They remind me of a giant pom-pom. Their tidy shape goes well with modern or classic architecture.
I’m grateful that our winters allow me to enjoy my garden in January. It gives me time to appreciate the tough plants that somehow manage to look amazing even as the weather turns colder. I encourage you to try sedges or ornamental grasses in your own garden.
