Bowles' golden sedge
Carex elata 'Aurea' · Cyperaceae
A fountain of brilliant yellow leaves with thin green edges. It grows in wet soil, and even in shallow water.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around Bowles' golden sedge
The planner designed this bed around Bowles' golden sedge 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 367 that suit those conditions and its wet soil, and says below why Bowles' golden sedge stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bowles' golden sedge × 3, chartreuse leaves
- 2 Blue star creeper × 19, blue
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 5, yellow
- 4 White turtlehead × 5, white
- 5 Garden phlox 'David' × 3, white
- 6 Globe arborvitae 'Danica' × 1, green leaves
- 7 Snowdrop × 12, white
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 globe arborvitae 'Danica'. 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 globe arborvitae 'Danica'.
Why here
- In the middle. At 2½ ft it is the step between mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' (8 in) in front and white turtlehead (3 ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- A step in the back row. Next to white turtlehead (3 ft) and garden phlox 'David' (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, spring to frost. They cover the 16 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- Stands through winter. Left uncut, it holds its shape until March, when the perennials have gone.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 49% of the planted ground. Blue star creeper is planted in six places along the bed, which gives it rhythm. Cool colours (blue) set against hot ones (yellow), with white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 6 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 Bowles' golden sedge goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The brightest yellow for wet ground. Beside the dark leaves of a ligularia or the blue of a hosta it is spectacular. The colour is best in spring and in some sun.
- Gold foliage beside water
- Bog gardens
- Lighting up moist part shade
What to plant with Bowles' golden sedge
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Japanese iris: adds the flowers, late June to mid July; happy in the same wet soil.
- Ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford': adds the flowers, early August to early September; bold leaves against its fine ones.
- Hosta 'Halcyon': bold leaves against its fine ones.
Questions about Bowles' golden sedge
Does Bowles' golden sedge need sun or shade?
Bowles' golden sedge 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 moist to wet soil, rich in organic matter, and plenty of water. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does Bowles' golden sedge grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should Bowles' golden sedge be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2½ ft (70 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Bowles' golden sedge plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is Bowles' golden sedge poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like Bowles' golden sedge?
Bowles' golden sedge comes from Europe to Central Asia. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Tussock sedge: the same job in a bed and the same size.
- Northern sea oats 'River Mist': the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers late July to mid September, medium leaves, not fine.
- Tufted hair grass: the same job in a bed; 8 in taller, flowers late June to late August.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat Bowles' golden sedge?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does Bowles' golden sedge look like in winter?
Bowles' golden sedge turns the colour of straw and, left uncut, stands through the winter. Cut it down in late winter, before the new shoots come up.
Is Bowles' golden sedge good for bees and butterflies?
Bowles' golden sedge is visited by butterflies.
More Carex
- Appalachian sedge Carex appalachica
- Blue sedge Carex flacca
- Blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' Carex flacca 'Blue Zinger'
- 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
Every fact on record
- Type
- Grass
- Size
- 2½ ft (70 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; chartreuse
- Shape
- Arching, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, moist to wet
- Water
- High
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- Comes from
- Europe to Central Asia
- Attracts
- Butterflies
- Stands up to
- Deer, wet soil
Checked against NC State Extension. 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.