Taper-tip Rush

Juncus acuminatus

Taper-tip rush is a lesser-known raingarden superstar that will add year-round interest and structure to your garden. Its soft, vibrant green foliage is evergreen, forming a hardy, low-maintenance groundcover with exceptional habitat benefits in sunny moist to wet areas. The flower cluster is an open array of up to 20 teensy-weensy green to reddish-brown inflorescences; a natural firework display for all the lovely, industrious ants that call a habitat garden home.

• Plant type/canopy layer: evergreen, perennial, herbaceous plant
• Size at maturity: 18-36" tall, 12-24" wide
• Light requirements: full sun
• Moisture requirements: moist to wet soil
• Bloom time: June - Aug
• Growth rate/ease: medium growth rate, easy to grow
• Wildlife support: this plant attracts and supports beneficial and pest eating insects and is a caterpillar host plant and larval food source for many native moth species; seeds are enjoyed by birds and small mammals
• Native habitat/range: common in wet meadows, wet prairies, in ditches and along shores and swales, from sea level to 1300m, across much of North and Central America (except a couple of the more dry dry, central states/providences). Portland Plant List - yes.  
• Special features & uses: evergreen; wildlife favorite; landscape uses include wet meadows and raingardens/bioswales and erosion control

Gardening with Taper-tip Rush: If you’re looking for groundcover that is low-maintenance, will control erosion and provides year-round structure and habitat in your wet meadow or the bottom layer of a raingarden, look no further. These fuss-free plants will tolerate all soil types and pretty much any drainage, including seasonal flooding to standing water, provided it's getting the moisture and sun it needs. 

Photo Credit 1 (lakeside): "File:Starr-110929-9874-Juncus acuminatus-seedhead-Hanaula-Maui (24821854440).jpg" by Forest and Kim Starr is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Photo Credit 2 (lakeside closeup): "File:Starr-110929-9873-Juncus acuminatus-habit in reservoir-Hanaula-Maui (25024210461).jpg" by Forest and Kim Starr is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Photo Credits 3 & 4 (seeds): © Joe Potter Butler, some rights reserved (CC-BY)