Uncinia rubra Belindas Find

Uncinia Belinda's Find is an evergreen, grass-like perennial forming a compact and brightly coloured tuft. It catches the eye with its shiny, gracefully arched and particularly ornamental bronze leaves, with bright cherry red borders and magnificent metallic highlights when backlit. This plant is closely related to sedges, native to New Zealand and prefers mild climates and rich, moist but well-drained soils. Beautiful in sunny borders, but a bit tender, it can be grown in large pots and overwintered in a cold greenhouse or conservatory.

Uncinia rubra belongs to the cyperaceae family, native to the mountains of New Zealand. The 'Belinda's Find' selection, also marketed as Uncinia rubra 'Everflame', is a sport of this plant, recently discovered in a nursery. This variety forms a trailing herbaceous tuft that slowly spreads with short underground rhizomes to form a rounded and compact tuft about 30 cm (12in) high and 40 cm (16in) wide. The stems are upright, stiff, and triangular. The foliage is evergreen and glossy, in the form of long, pointed, ribbon-like, decorative leaves, 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12in) long. Their colour is simply remarkable, variegated bronze, copper red, and purple, with a very distinct border of bright red. The short brown-black flower spikes are insignificant, followed by small achenes with a hook that allows them to cling to the fur or feathers of animals.

Uncinia rubra is a bit tender (hardy down to -8°C), and its cultivation should be restricted to warmer areas and cold-protected locations. It also thrives in pots and can be combined with Heuchera Blackout, for example, to create beautiful decorative pots all year round, placed in a frost-free location such as an unheated conservatory or a small greenhouse in winter. The warm colour palette of its foliage will complement Japanese irises, Sarracenia, Eriophorum angustifolium, ferns, marsh marigolds, astilbes, sedges, Euphorbia palustris...