Blue sedge 'Blue Zinger'
Carex flacca 'Blue Zinger' · Cyperaceae
A taller, bluer selection of blue sedge: a slowly spreading carpet of arching, steel-blue blades.
- Size
- 12 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around blue sedge 'Blue Zinger'
The planner designed this bed around blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' × 7, blue-green leaves
- 2 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 5, pink
- 3 Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' × 3, pink
- 4 Garden phlox 'David' × 3, white
- 5 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Golden ragwort × 18, yellow
- 7 Spring starflower × 5, blue
Why this plant
- Part of the matrix. The low fabric of grasses and groundcovers that the taller plants come up through.
- Grown for leaf, not flower. So is inkberry 'Gem Box'. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does inkberry 'Gem Box'.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 12 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 51% of the edge.
- 7 plants in 2 runs (5 and 2). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 14 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 53% of the planted ground. The back corners are held by garden phlox 'David' and turtlehead 'Hot Lips', the tallest plants on the plan. Blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' and inkberry 'Gem Box' carry the bed through winter.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' goes in a border
At 12 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
It tolerates dry shade, wet soil, clay and some foot traffic, which makes it one of the most adaptable groundcovers. Use it as a blue lawn in a small space.
- Blue groundcover in sun or shade
- A lawn substitute in small areas
- Underplanting shrubs
What to plant with blue sedge 'Blue Zinger'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Coral bells.
- Hosta 'Halcyon': bold leaves against its fine ones.
- Cranesbill 'Rozanne': adds the flowers, early June to early October.
Questions about blue sedge 'Blue Zinger'
Does blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' need sun or shade?
Blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' be planted?
14 in (35 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 12 in (30 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' plants do I need?
At 14 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 9 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 9 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 28 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used seven in two groups.
Will blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads steadily by creeping rhizomes into a carpet. Edge it once a year.
What does blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' look like in winter?
Blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' keeps its blue-green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
More Carex
- Appalachian sedge Carex appalachica
- Blue sedge Carex flacca
- Bowles' golden sedge Carex elata 'Aurea'
- Bristleleaf sedge Carex eburnea
- Gray's sedge Carex grayi
- Japanese sedge 'Ice Dance' Carex morrowii 'Ice Dance'
- Leatherleaf sedge Carex buchananii
- Orange New Zealand sedge Carex testacea
- Palm sedge Carex muskingumensis
- Pennsylvania sedge Carex pensylvanica
- Sedge 'Bunny Blue' Carex laxiculmis 'Hobb' (Bunny Blue)
- Sedge 'Everest' Carex oshimensis 'Everest'
- Sedge 'Evergold' Carex oshimensis 'Evergold'
- Sedge 'Everillo' Carex oshimensis 'Everillo'
- Sedge 'Frosted Curls' Carex comans 'Frosted Curls'
- Seersucker sedge Carex plantaginea
- Tussock sedge Carex stricta
- Variegated broadleaf sedge Carex siderosticha 'Variegata'
- Variegated Japanese sedge Carex morrowii 'Variegata'
In these guides
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
- Ornamental grasses under 3 feet
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Grass
- Size
- 12 in (30 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 14 in (35 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; blue-green
- Shape
- Arching, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Cyperaceae
Checked against VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.