A Year in the Valley

This is our statement sedge standing like an imposing statue centrally near the bank of the stream.   Supposed to be a 1.5m tall by a metre broad, ours is definitely larger than that. However, it stands on its own straw podium into which I have occasionally seen a mouse scurrying. Also, its flowers are spikey, rather than hairy or corn-like, which is how I arrived at Greater Tussock Sedge. Although it looks a bit scrappy at the moment, it is very robust and weathers the winter storms and floods. Its sharp-edged blades fountain out in all directions, waving rough, russet flowers at all who pass by.