Sedge 'Frosted Curls'
Carex comans 'Frosted Curls' · Cyperaceae
A fountain of hair-fine, pale silvery-green leaves, each ending in a curl, like a head of blond hair.
- Size
- 12 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 7 to 9
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around sedge 'Frosted Curls'
The planner designed this bed around sedge 'Frosted Curls' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 7, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 977 that suit those conditions, and says below why sedge 'Frosted Curls' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sedge 'Frosted Curls' × 5, silver leaves
- 2 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 5, yellow
- 3 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 4 Garden phlox 'Jeana' × 3, pink
- 5 Fernleaf peony × 1, red
- 6 Gentian speedwell × 8, blue
- 7 Pineapple lily × 2, white
- 8 Snowdrop × 12, white
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
- Part of the matrix. The low fabric of grasses and groundcovers that the taller plants come up through.
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 64% of the edge.
- 5 plants in one run. An unbroken run of one kind gives the edge a clean line.
- Fine leaf against bold. Pineapple lily is beside it: the strongest contrast of leaf there is.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 16 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 46% of the planted ground. The flowers run from early March to mid September, but stop for 4 weeks from early April. The back corners are held by garden phlox 'Jeana' and false sunflower 'Summer Sun', the tallest plants on the plan.
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 sedge 'Frosted Curls' 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: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A New Zealand sedge for the edge of a pot, a wall or a raised bed, where the long blades can pour over. It needs mild winters and soil that does not dry.
- Spilling from containers and walls
- Fine texture at the front
- Mild-climate gardens
What to plant with sedge 'Frosted Curls'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Coral bells.
- Black mondo grass.
- Japanese forest grass: happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about sedge 'Frosted Curls'
Does sedge 'Frosted Curls' need sun or shade?
Sedge 'Frosted Curls' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does sedge 'Frosted Curls' grow in?
USDA zones 7 to 9. It is hardy to zone 7, which means it survives winter nights down to about 10 °F (−12 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should sedge 'Frosted Curls' 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 12 in (30 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many sedge 'Frosted Curls' 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 five in one group.
Is sedge 'Frosted Curls' 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 sedge 'Frosted Curls'?
Sedge 'Frosted Curls' comes from New Zealand. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Palm sedge: the same job in a bed; belongs in the middle, not at the front, 16 in taller.
- Corkscrew rush: an accent, not a drift, 4 in taller.
- Pink tickseed: the same job in a bed; 4 in taller, flowers late June to early September.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat sedge 'Frosted Curls'?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What does sedge 'Frosted Curls' look like in winter?
Sedge 'Frosted Curls' keeps its silver and 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.
Is sedge 'Frosted Curls' good for bees and butterflies?
Sedge 'Frosted Curls' is visited by pollinators and butterflies.
More Carex
- Appalachian sedge Carex appalachica
- Blue sedge Carex flacca
- Blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' Carex flacca 'Blue Zinger'
- 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'
- 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
- 12 in (30 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; silver, green
- Shape
- Arching, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 7 to 9
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- Comes from
- New Zealand
- Attracts
- Pollinators, butterflies
- Stands up to
- Drought, 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.