1/2-pint plug
Light: Sun-Partial shade
Soil: Dry-medium
Height: 8 inches
Bloom: May
Notable features: A TLC favorite! Ideal for garden borders or planted densely as a matrix throughout, this is a fine-textured sedge that reproduces slowly by rhizomes and rarely reaches heights of more than 8" when blooming. It is sought-after for its look of a traditional lawn and for its dry-soil tolerance and ability to grow in full sun or full shade. To get a solid stand of this hardy sedge that so many desire, divide plants over the years. It will spread between 3-8" each year depending on the soil moisture of the site. Historically, this plant would make up the floor of our oak savannas and act as a very effective fuel during a prescribed burn. We think this plant needs to take over the world. Well, at least the gardening world in its native range.
Attracts: Insects that are known to feed on Pennsylvania Sedge include the leafhopper Cosmotettix delector, the aphid Iziphya albipes, and such grasshoppers as Arphia pseudonietana (Red-winged Grasshopper), Orphuella speciosa (Pasture Grasshopper), and Trachyrhachys kiowa (Kiowa Grasshopper). Other insects that feed on sedges (Carex spp.) include larvae of the grass-miner moths Elachista argentosa and Elachista madarella, Chloealtis abdominalis (Thomas' Broad-winged Grasshopper), and such aphids as Iziphya flabella, Carolinaia caricis, and Vesiculaphis carici. Various birds eat the seeds of sedges in habitats that are favored by Pennsylvania Sedge; these species include Wild Turkey, Eastern Towhee, and various sparrows.
