Characteristics
| Hardiness zone | 5b |
|---|---|
| Flower color | brown |
| Foliage type | evergreen |
| Plant form | arching |
| Mature height | 24 inches |
| Spread | 18 inches |
| Light requirements | full sun to partial shade |
| Moisture requirements | average to moist |
| Plant origin | import |
Red Rooster Sedge
Botanical name: Carex buchananii ‘Red Rooster’
Ornamental copper-bronze colored foliage with a distinctive red cast, carried all season long; great in a moist border in shade or sun, does not like to dry out.
Other names: Buchanan’s Sedge, Leatherleaf Sedge, Hair Sedge
Ornamental Features
Red Rooster Sedge's attractive grassy leaves are coppery-bronze in color with showy red variegation. The foliage often turns brown in fall. Neither the flowers nor the fruit are ornamentally significant.
Landscape Attributes
Red Rooster Sedge is an herbaceous evergreen perennial grass with a shapely form and gracefully arching stems. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.
This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Red Rooster Sedge is recommended for the following landscape applications;
Mass Planting, Border Edging, General Garden Use, Groundcover, Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens, Container Planting
Planting and Growing
Red Rooster Sedge will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 7 years.
This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.
Red Rooster Sedge is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It can be used either as 'filler' or as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, depending on the height and form of the other plants used in the container planting. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.
