Carex oshimensis Everglow - Oshima Sedge

Carex oshimensis 'Everglow' is a particularly vibrant variety of Oshima sedge, perfect for adding life to flower beds, borders, or planters on a patio or balcony all year round. With its free, slightly tousled habit and long glossy leaves with a bright yellow margin tinged with a hint of orange, it forms a brilliantly coloured small tuft, ideal for adding style to any setting. Its autumn flowering is discreet, with small almost black-brown spikes. This false grass is easy to cultivate in full sun or partial shade, in any ordinary but moist soil.

Carex oshimensis 'Everglow' is a sedge belonging to the Cyperaceae family, and is a cousin of grasses to which it bears a resemblance. It is a recent variety from the EverColor® series, developed in Ireland for over 25 years. It comes from a hardy Japanese botanical species, widespread in rocky undergrowth on the island of Honshu. This small herbaceous plant with short rhizomes forms a tuft with a compact, light, upright and gracefully trailing habit, measuring about 40cm (16in) in all directions. It does not sucker, but fills out year after year. Its linear, evergreen gramineous leaves measure up to 30 to 35 cm (12 to 14in) in length. Their edges are tapered and their tips trailing. The bright green colour is highlighted by a yellow margin with copper or orange reflections, wider when the plant is grown in partial shade, narrower and more orange in full sun. In autumn, short black-brown spikes measuring 1 to 3cm (1in) appear among the foliage, borne on slender stems measuring 15cm (6in) in height. It should be noted that this Oshima sedge is very perennial and will live for many years in the garden.

'Everglow' is a small, refined 'herb' with delicate foliage that will form a beautiful bouquet of gracefully overflowing coloured leaves in pots. Its design does not require the presence of other plants alongside it, but it will complement its neighbours and bring lightness to the lush foliage of rodgersia, for example. Its texture contrasts with that of fern fronds, and its flexibility complements the roundness of fantastically coloured heuchera leaves and emphasises the beauty of hellebores. As this perennial appreciates moist to wet soils, it will naturally find its place in water gardens, on banks or at the edge of a pond, where it will contribute to soil stabilisation. Place it at the edges of perennial beds. For a beautiful wild effect, plant it en masse, in a contemporary or country garden.