The Best Grasses that Aren't Grasses

We’re big fans of Carex. We’re hooked!

This is a multi-talented group whose members shine as individuals or in masses. Carex can edge borders and fill containers. It can be “green mulch” or a lawn alternative. It looks, grows and sells like a grass, but it’s actually a sedge, in the Cyperaceae family.

Growth habit in general is clumping and cascading, with many variations. Foliage colors comprise a rainbow spectrum including handsome bronze, chocolate brown, solid gold, rich green, glaucous blue, and even orange. The graceful blades come in solids and stripes and may be broad or nearly hairlike, flat or curled, upright or relaxed.

If you’re not familiar with this varied, versatile, cosmopolitan genus of grass-like plants, you really owe it to yourself to make its acquaintance.