North Shore Plant Club
Meads Sedge (Carex meadii)
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| Deciduous Perennial Upright, Loosely Clump-Forming in the Cyperaceae Family | |
A dainty, blue-green prairie sedge forming loose, unbranched tufts just 6-15in tall. Thrives in dry-to-medium soil and full-to-partial sun, with golden spring flower spikes that are a magnet for prairie birds. |
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Mead's Sedge (Carex meadii) is a low, tufted native sedge of Midwestern prairies, savannas, hill prairies, and dolomite glades, occurring occasionally across central and northern Illinois. Reaching only 6-15 inches tall, it forms loose, unbranched tufts of slender, arching, blue-green foliage with a strong fibrous root system. In mid- to late spring it produces a brief but conspicuous bloom of golden-yellow, wind-pollinated flowers. Unlike the wetland sedges common in this genus, Mead's Sedge is a genuinely drought-tolerant upland species, well suited to dry-to-medium, well-drained soils in full to partial sun. |
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| Why Like | Mead's Sedge is a true prairie native, at home in the black soil prairies, hill prairies, and dolomite glades of Illinois alongside classic prairie wildflowers and grasses. Its brief but conspicuous golden-yellow spring bloom feeds early-season pollinators, and its seeds are an important food source for upland gamebirds like the Greater Prairie Chicken as well as sparrows and other songbirds - a genuine thread in the prairie food web, not just a filler grass-look-alike. |
| Highlights | A true dry-prairie native with fine, blue-green foliage and a brief golden-yellow spring bloom. Seeds feed upland gamebirds and songbirds, and the foliage hosts Satyrodes butterfly caterpillars, making it a genuine contributor to the prairie food web. |
Plant Data | |
| Mature Size | 6 - 15 inches tall. 8 - 15 inches wide. |
| Sun Exposure | Partial Sun - Full Sun |
| Moisture Tolerance | Dry - Medium: A drought-tolerant upland prairie species. Thrives in dry to medium soil moisture and does poorly in consistently wet or poorly-drained ground. |
| Zones | 3a - 8b (Usually hardy to -40° F) |
| Tags | Attracts Birds, Attracts Butterflies, Deciduous, Drought Tolerant, Dry, Full Sun, Grasses, Illinois Native, Medium, Native to North America, Partial Sun, Perennial, Prairie Garden |
| Bloom Period | April to May |
| Foliage Color | Blue-Green |
Plant Club Content |
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Pricing and Availability HistoryClick a label to toggle visibility for that size
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Past Availability2024 : 07/02 - 09/08 |
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We try very hard to source exactly what you’d like, but sometimes growers run out of plants! While this variety is a great deal at the price shown, we know that it has limited availability. If you want the plant even if it might be more expensive, or in a different size or quantity -- after you place your order, just send us a quick note at help@northshoreplantclub.com. Then, we’ll try to get you some version of this from one of our growers. And if we can’t get it from anywhere, of course, we’ll send a refund!
Plants which are well-adapted to our local climate are most often field-grown (outside). Field-grown plants are generally cheaper and have the advantage of already somewhat acclimated to our cold winters, but that means they’re not artificially far along in the spring and tend to bloom at the normal time in our area.
Spring annuals and tender perennials are typically grown in Greenhouses so they can be ready and luxurious exactly when customers want them. Some perennials are also “forced” into early bloom in greenhouses. In May, there can be a very big difference between field-grown and greenhouse-grown plants of the same type. The latter typically look good right away (so they’re a great choice where that’s important), but we typically pay a premium for it.
The cost of this recipe's ingredients will vary depending on the season and the sizes and varieties you select.
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Membership is free, but — since we rely on delivery and local pick-up — you have to live near one of our hubs (or be willing to drive to a site to pick them up). If you live farther away, and would like to help us bring the club to your neighbors, please email helpusgrow@northshoreplantclub.com.
To secure the best prices for club members and make sure we know the current plants available from each nursery, we take orders only a couple of times a month.
Shoot us an email at help@northshoreplantclub.com, and we'll be happy to talk about plants or let you know when it's time to buy them!
We order from a rotating cast of the best nurseries in the Great Lakes region. It looks like we've offered this plant in the past, but the nurseries we're working with this week don't appear to have it in stock at the moment.
Our goal is to bring as many plants together under "one roof" as possible, so we'll try hard to make it available again in the future!