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Common Name: rush
Type: Rush or Sedge
Family: Juncaceae
Zone: 4 to 9
Native Range: Caucasus, Europe
Garden Location: Lang Family Bird Garden, Kemper Center Landscape
Height: 1 to 3 feet
Spread: 1 to 3 feet
Bloom Time: May to July
Bloom Color: Brown
Bloom Description: Straw to reddish-brown
Sun: Full sun
Water: Wet
Maintenance: Low
Flowers: Flowers not Showy
Tolerates: Wet Soil
Uses: Erosion Control, Rain Garden, Water Plant, Will Naturalize
Culture
Easily grown in consistently moist to wet soils in full sun. Tolerates light shade, but best in full sun. Thrives in neutral to alkaline soils. Tolerates heavy soils. Needs ample moisture and will grow well in standing water up to about 3” deep, but also does surprisingly well in slightly moist soils that do not dry out. Plants may take time to establish, but once established will slowly spread by creeping rhizomes. May freely self-seed in optimum growing conditions. Propagate by division in early spring.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Juncus inflexus, commonly known as hard rush or blue rush, is a rhizomatous, densely-tufted perennial with upright, cylindrical, blue-green stems/leaves. This is a true rush that will grow to as much as 40" tall. It is native to marshes, wet meadows, flood plains, river/lake margins, wet hillsides (sandy or peaty) and ditches in Europe, Asia and North Africa. It has been introduced in northeastern North America (Ontario, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia). Tiny, straw to reddish-brown flowers in loose cymes bloom at some stem ends in late spring to mid-summer. Flowers give way to short-beaked brown seed capsules. Genus name comes from the Latin meaning to join or bind in probable reference to the use of stems of some species' plants in basket weaving.
Garden Uses
May be grown at the edge of a pond or water garden, in boggy areas, among wet pebbles or rocks or in several inches of standing water. Good water garden accent. Adds a certain amount of authenticity to transitional waterside areas where it also may be used for erosion control.