Banana Boat Broadleaf Sedge
Carex siderosticha 'Banana Boat'
Plant Height: 6 inches
Flower Height: 12 inches
Spread: 18 inches
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 4
Other Names: Broad-Leaved Sedge
Description:
Grown for wide, grassy leaves; gold foliage with green edge; great in a moist border in shade or sun, does not like to dry out
Ornamental Features
Banana Boat Broadleaf Sedge is primarily valued in the garden for its cascading habit of growth. Its attractive grassy leaves remain gold in color with distinctive green edges throughout the season.
Landscape Attributes
Banana Boat Broadleaf Sedge is an herbaceous perennial grass with a shapely form and gracefully arching stems. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other garden plants with finer foliage.
This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Banana Boat Broadleaf Sedge is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Mass Planting
- Border Edging
- General Garden Use
- Groundcover
- Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
- Container Planting
Planting & Growing
Banana Boat Broadleaf Sedge will grow to be only 6 inches tall at maturity extending to 12 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 18 inches. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!
This plant does best in partial shade to full shade. Keep it well away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It is quite adaptable, prefering to grow in average to wet conditions, and will even tolerate some standing water. It may require supplemental watering during periods of drought or extended heat. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.
Banana Boat Broadleaf Sedge is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a canvas of foliage against which the thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.