Lovin’ The Spring Groundcovers

It took FOREVER for spring to arrive in Chicagoland, but BOOM, its suddenly here. My garden is gorgeous! Just look at how beautiful groundcovers can be in the spring…

This one is creeping phlox. It will gently cascade its blooms in the spring. The alliums in the background are pretty cool too.

Ok, I know the alliums aren’t a groundcover, but I needed a segue to show how pretty an allium looked with yesterday’s deviled eggs.

Back to our regularly scheduled program – groundcovers. The yellow stonecrop sedum was a nice addition three years ago. It’s so bright, and certainly doesn’t need flowers. That’s a good thing because it doesn’t have any.

The Dragon’s Blood sedum is growing by the edge of the patio. It is so perfect there. The ground was slightly higher than the patio and I needed something to stop the dirt from falling on the patio edge. It took about 5 years for it to do the job well, and I may be in for some maintenance when it takes over more area. Its roots are shallow and will come out easily by the shovelful. I know cuz that’s how I transplanted them from another area of the garden.

Sweet woodruff is one of my favorites. It looks delicate, but survives our zone 5 winters well. It even looks great even when the flowers are spent. Finally, a groundcover that isn’t a thug! It likes shade and is growing here under an evergreen. Unlike so many groundcovers, it takes a detour around other plants in its path. It has shallow roots and is easy to transplant. You need to know that because you will want it in other places.

Candytuft is a bit of a mixed blessing. It is stunning in the spring when it covers a large area, but ratty looking after that. I often just pull a lot of it out, knowing that if I do, some will still come back next year.

I can’t have a groundcover article without mentioning ajuga. Sure, it looks rather weedy most of the year, but It grows in shade and right now its bright enough to see all the way across the yard.

I’ll end with a few words about the creeping Charlie you know doubt noticed in the last picture. I suppose you could think of it as a groundcover. Maybe I should and they we could stop fighting it. Sigh. So far, creeping Charlie seems to be winning. Mike is on the attack this year, so watch out Charlie, you may have won the battle, but Mike will win the war!

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