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Description
Glaucous sedge (Carex flacca), also known as grey carex, blue sedge, carnation-grass, or carex glauca, is a low-growing, clump-forming perennial ground cover with distinctive blue-green foliage. The narrow leaves are blue-green on the upper surface and glaucous beneath, giving the plant its characteristic silvery appearance.
This adaptable sedge is found across a wide range of habitats, including grasslands, rock gardens, wet meadows, mountain flushes, and the upper margins of salt marshes. Its tolerance of dry conditions makes it particularly useful in drought-tolerant landscaping and erosion-control plantings, where it helps stabilise soil.
How to Identify
Blue sedge forms neat tufts of arching, narrow leaves with a bluish-grey hue. The foliage remains attractive throughout much of the year, and in late spring to early summer, it produces subtle brownish flower spikes held above the leaves.
How to Grow
Carex flacca grows well in full sun to partial shade and tolerates a wide range of soil conditions, including moist but well-drained soils. Once established, it is relatively drought-tolerant and requires little maintenance, making it suitable for naturalistic planting schemes, wildflower meadows, coastal gardens, and slope stabilisation projects.
