Cousin Itt Sedge

We trial quite a few sedges in the garden, some of which are a bit aggressive, while others that make fantastic garden specimens. One of our newer favorites is our selection of Carex basiantha ‘Cousin Itt’. This species is native from NC west to Texas, where it grows in average to moist forests, often over limestone. Our 2022 collection from Jasper County, SC, has been absolutely fabulous in the garden, where it’s made a 4′ wide patch, so while it’s not a tight clump, we’d classify it as a slow creeper. We’ve grown this in both light shade and half day sun. While it has performed well in both conditions, the part sun planting looks the best. Surprisingly, we can’t find that this is available commercially. If our propagation goes well, we’ll be able to offer this for the first time in the 2026 Plant Delights Nursery catalog.