Why choose native plants? Pacific Northwest native plants know how to live here and how to thrive here. They often need much less water and less fertilizer. They spread slowly and are not invasive. They support a wide diversity of wildlife. And best of all, they look great!
This is one of our most ornamental native sedges, forming clumps up to 2 feet wide with gracefully arching leaves radiating out from the center. It’s easily distinguished from other sedges and grasses by its thick, dark inflorescences that achieve an almost purplish-hue, dangling from long peduncles each spring. In the wild, you’d find it growing in moist and wet mountain forests, roadside ditches and meadows, reaching heights up to four feet. Sedges in general are extremely valuable to wildlife and tend to be important early sources of food, since they bloom in spring before most native grasses. Seeds are highly sought after by small mammals and birds such as ducks, grouse, wild turkeys, sandpipers, and sparrows – especially during fall migration; foliage of sedges serves as valuable cover and nesting sites for birds, small mammals and amphibians – as well as countless species of arthropods such as beetles, flies, moths and grasshoppers; wood ducks are known to nest in the trees above sedges, so the tufts of foliage soften the fall of fledglings as they learn to fly; the overall plant is likely a caterpillar host and larval food source for Common Ringlet and the Dun Skipper butterflies. Plant in light shade. Combines beautifully with columbines, angelicas, cardinal and seep monkeyflowers, and fringecups. Will go dormant in winter, only to remerge with lush green growth in the spring. Deer resistant. Blooms April-May. Photo courtesy of Sparrowhawk Native Plants.
