Carex lupulina - Common Hop Sedge

Sizes available: TBD, coming in 2026

Basics: zones 3-9, 18-36" x 12-30", full sun (if wet) to part shade, green spikelets in late spring, prefers consistent moisture to wet, occasional flooding okay.

Common names: Common Hop Sedge

Family: Cyperaceae

Origin/Distribution: Wide distribution in eastern North America. Native to Maine.

Habitat: riparian: marsh, bog, swamp, also moist woods and shady bottomland

More: An attractive sedge for the side of a pond where it will provide food and cover for waterfowl and small mammals, as well as perches for dragonflies. Can also be grown in a rain garden or a container planted up as a mini bog. Good for bank stabilization and will spread by rhizome. Larval host for butterfly species in the Satyrinae and Nymphalidae families including the Marsh Eyed Brown, Satyrodes eurydice, which is native to Maine.

Even more: If I could talk more gardeners into filling their spaces with Carex species, I would consider my life well lived. They are an excellent ground cover layer and there are species for every conceivable light and moisture condition. Some of them also make good lawn alternatives. They can be planted under trees, shrubs, and taller herbaceous layers, acting as living mulch, retaining moisture and suppressing weeds and looking good doing it. They offer top notch habitat for wildlife, providing shelter and food for birds, small mammals, and invertebrates, and acting as larval hosts for numerous species. Their fibrous root systems are good at holding banks, slopes, and edges. For the most part they are deer and rabbit resistant. And last but not least, they provide structural backbone - variations in texture, color, and rhythm - to your ornamental beds. 

Source: sown at Honey Petal Plants with seed from Prairie Moon Nursery

Image credits: both images from Wikimedia Commons