Carex buchananii "Copper Sedge" Prodigeous seeder.

August 2006 six Novalis bred Carex buchananii "Copper Sedge" were planted in a new bed. It's a great grass..........but I have a bed full of seedlings and the parent plants are setting seed again this season, this week. The seedlings look true, are a nice color and just about large enough to transplant or pot up. The point I am trying to make here is that are a LOT of seedlings. I don't want to raise undue alarm over this grass, however it will definitely escape in this zone and it may potentially be a problem in some areas.

The straight species, Carex buchananii, is not native to the US at all. Anytime you deal with an exotic grass you almost have to be on your toes. When it comes to grasses, sedges, rushes, wetland, marginal, and aquatic species; I am very very very careful. We have so few natural wetland areas left. It's gotten so bad for me that I simply won't plant an exotic grass, sedge, or rush any more. No way to contain them for me.

You should really find out where it is native and then go post your comments over in PlantFiles. Nobody wants a ton of seedlings to clean up.

Thanks Equil - According to "The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses" by Rick Darke, Carex buchananii is native to New Zealand. Local nurseries are selling tons of different cultivars.

Tons of cultivars, eh? Great. Sounds as if this one will make a list as an invasive species in no time flat.

I added the plant to the PlantFiles. It is a named, selectively bred variety of leatherleaf sedge. I'm making a trip to the nursery tomorrow. I'll take a look at the other varieties (Red Rooster is one that comes to mind) and see if they too are setting seed.

Whatcha buying at the nursery tomorrow? Trees, shrubs, perennials? Got your heart set on something you can't live without or is there an end of season sale going on?

Got mulch? And one of the better local garden centers gets a nice mid summer/ early fall shipment of shrubs & trees. Ya never know what you might find. Mostly, I'm helping a neighbor choose some replacement planting material. They tore out an untended ovegrown 35 yr old front and back yard and are starting from scratch. Figured the least I could do was to help them avoid Euonymus alatus and Pyrus calleryana. They are very eager to learn, so that's encouraging.

Whatawoman! Nice of you to take the time with them but it does sound like a fun trip. I always love spending other people's money.