Carex 'Everillo'

‘Everillo’ is a lime-green sedge that stays lime green all year. It gives a shady pot the arching, grassy texture that ornamental grasses give a sunny one, and Clemson notes it is evergreen in South Carolina, so it is still there in January when everything else is bare. The flowers are small and brown and nobody plants it for them. It is one of the few plants that can anchor a porch pot in all four seasons. The photo above shows ‘Evergold’, an older striped sibling; ‘Everillo’ is the same sedge in solid lime green.

In the Upstate

It is hardy in zones 5 to 9, so winter is fine, and a container adds no real risk. Clemson’s advice for our climate is afternoon shade to full shade, and NC State adds that it does not tolerate drought, which is the summer problem: a sedge in a hot pot that dries out browns at the tips and looks tired by August. Keep it shaded and watered and it stays clean. Plant in fall or early spring.

In a container

It is a filler in summer and the structure of the pot in winter. Clemson suggests pairing it with pansies and violas for fall and winter combinations, and it holds its own with hostas, ferns, and heuchera in a shade pot the rest of the year. It grows 12 to 18 inches tall and about as wide, and the clump widens slowly without running. Keep the mix evenly moist. It stays in the pot year-round and does not need swapping.

Care

Water is the main task. It takes wet feet better than dry ones and NC State lists it for rain gardens and pond margins. Feed lightly in spring. Do not cut it back every year. Clemson says to trim it only when the foliage is worn, in late winter, and no lower than 2 inches. Divide in late winter if it outgrows the pot. The one thing that kills it is a pot that dries out in a sunny spot in July.