Carex pennsylvanica - Pennsylvania Sedge, Oak Sedge
Zone: 4-7, although I've seen plenty of 3-8
Purchase from: Classy Groundcovers, Everwilde Farms, Greenwood Nursery, Morning Sky Greenery, Prairie Nursery, Prairie Moon Nursery, Santa Rosa Gardens, Shooting Star Nursery, Yellow Springs Farm
Well, at least the botanical universe anyway. In the last few years I've become enamored with Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica), but more importantly, its one of the first plants that made me realize that rarity and beauty aren't one in the same. This was one of the many native species I was first introduced to through the pages of a book, but unlike most of the species I read about, was pretty stunned to find this one growing in abundance along the shady-ish edges of the roads and highways around my home.
C. pensylvanica is one of those few gems that's at its best when its a bit neglected, growing in the in-between where its either a bit too shady, a bit too dry, or a bit too infertile for other plants to thrive. After seeing it where its happy, when it makes soft gently flowing drifts of vibrant green (or warmer slightly duller hues by the end of the season) it occurred to me that most of us landscape professionals are missing the point behind these and other naturally occurring scenes we try to recreate in our gardens, parks, and whatever other manufactured landscape might fill this list of three I'm failing to complete. And yes, we might be able to temporarily fabricate some poor imitation, but it is almost always temporary. What we fail to grasp with all our irrigation, fertilizers, and whatever other noxious chemicals we throw at our yards in a sad attempt to beautify them (I think I need to figure out some way to get around the list of three thing.....) is that these scenes exist as either a result of deficiency or of excess, and are sustainable and persistent not because of some nutritionally balanced, moderately moist, well drained soil, but usually because these environments have either too little or too much of something that suppresses the growth and vigor of other, less specialized species. While these natural scenes of, uuummm, let's call them deficit or surplus, aren't always the most diverse, they are almost always visually compelling.
In fact when we condition our soils, irrigate, and spray clouds of fungicides and pesticides in order to create the perfect garden, what we're actually doing is creating a perfect environment for generalists plant species, aka weeds. From an evolutionary perspective these weedy species have picked the opposite route of C. pensylvanica and in a fight to the death in an "ideal" garden setting the weeds will always win out. So if you've ever wondered why it's always the plants you don't want that always seem to out-compete the plants you want, its probably because you're creating the ideal environment for the unwanted guys; a fabricated moderate in-between that doesn't really exist in nature. The sad truth is, in an attempt to create a garden where everything grows well, the weeds will always grow best. So yes, while the desired plants may grow lushly for a bit while we hack back the thugs that pop up around them, it's only a matter of time before the thugs win out.
And so, in an attempt to embrace my own yards deficiencies, I'm converting the ratty lawn covered leach field at my parents into what will hopefully be a healthy, self sustaining colony of C. pensylvanica (update to follow). Given that the species is notoriously difficult to start from seed, and genetic diversity is never a bad thing in a population, I may have stopped at a few places along the highway and "borrowed" a few individuals to add to the colony to-be (I know, I know, I'm a terrible person). In my defense, like I said before, C. pensylvanica is nearly impossible to start from seed, and since local stock is a nearly impossible to come by, the only way I could get locally adpated plants was to, well...., collect locally adapted plants (side note.... am I going to hell?, jk, kinda, not really,... but I'm not, right?). And to allow for easy reporting to the local authorities I have documented my questionably legal sampling on my crappy camera phone. Anyway, here's hoping I don't go to jail for digging up what is to most people an otherwise boring looking grass.... but even if I do, TOTALLY worth it!.... I think?
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