Gray's Sedge

That star-burst, mace-like seedhead is unlike anything else in the garden. it's a specimen plant masquerading as a ground cover.

Gray's Sedge produces one of the most dramatic seedheads in the native plant world: a spiky, star-burst-shaped mace head, like something from a medieval armory rendered in botanical form, that appears in summer and persists well into fall. Each individual fruit is inflated and pointed, and the whole cluster radiates from a central point into a perfect sphere of spines. Cut stems make unusual dried arrangements. In the garden it thrives in shaded, moist conditions: along rain garden edges, in damp woodland corners, and beneath deciduous canopy where moisture accumulates. The broad, fresh-green foliage is attractive all season, and the combination of clean foliage and extraordinary seedheads makes Gray's Sedge a genuine specimen plant for the right site. Waterfowl and songbirds work the seeds through fall. Plant it where the seedhead display can be enjoyed up close: along a shaded path, beside a small water feature, or at eye level on a slope. It rewards proximity.