Carex 'Prairie Fire'

Carex 'Prairie Fire' is a semi-evergreen to evergreen perennial ornamental grass offering year-round interest. Grown for its showy, shimmering glossy foliage, the attractive plant produces an elegant fountain-like mound of finely textured arching leaves that emerge olive green, become tipped with bright orange as they mature, and retain their color all year. Borne on graceful stems, inconspicuous brown flower spikes appear in summer.

A Carex testacea, commonly called New Zealand hair sedge, 'Prairie Fire' has a mounded, clump-forming habit and a moderate growth rate. 'Prairie Fire' sedge is valued as an accent plant in beds and containers but is shown to best effect massed or grouped, especially nice as groundcover edging, erosion control, and green roof plants. It is also suitable for water gardens.

Hair sedge prefers full sun to part shade and fertile, moist, well-drained soils. It tolerates a wide range of soils, including acid, alkaline, neutral, clay, chalk, sand, loam, and wet soils, except in winter. The plant is generally disease free, deer resistant, and drought and salt tolerant.