By Lindsay Bond Totten
Scripps Howard News Service
Let's face it, we never have as much time to garden as we'd like. One of the easiest but most easily overlooked ways to save time in the garden is to expand the use of groundcovers. They save time by muscling out weeds, conserving water, and just generally making the garden less work.
Too often, groundcovers are considered bit players of the garden circuit, but, just as easily, they can become stars or at least strong supporting actors. The list of potential Oscar-winning groundcovers for shade has grown exponentially in recent years, finally giving us some relief from tired old has-beens like vinca and pachysandra.
Near the top of this list are some terrific North American natives that are either new to the trade or long underused. For example, a great alternative to pachysandra is pachysandra. Let me explain.
The pachysandra species planted by the square mile every year is the Asian species, Pachysandra terminalis. Pachysandra procumbens, or Allegheny spurge, is its elegant, well-behaved American cousin. Native to rich woods from West Virginia south to Florida, it boasts below-zero hardiness as well as delightful silver mottled evergreen foliage that varies subtlety with the season. It's not an aggressive spreader like the Asian variety, and its slowly expanding clumps provide polite company for ferns and wildflowers.
Another southern charmer with good cold hardiness is the evergreen arrow-leafed ginger, Asarum arifolium. It sports heart-shaped silver and green foliage and is a moderate spreader about eight inches tall. A vigorous form of it called "Beaver Creek" is just entering the trade. Other worthwhile species of native evergreen gingers to try include A. shuttleworthii, A. speciosum and the diminutive A. naniflorum.
Foamflowers (Tiarella spp.) and alumroots (Heuchera spp.) are great shade plants that together constitute one of the biggest garden success stories among North American native plants. Rarely used 20 years ago, they've become worldwide stars. I mention them in the same breath because they're closely related. They've even been "crossed," creating a new wonderful brand new group of plants, the Heucherellas.
For covering ground in the shade, the spreading forms of Tiarella are the best choice. Most share the basic maple-shaped leaf and tiny spires of white flowers of the principal parent species, the Eastern foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia). Intriguing leaf shapes and foliage color patterns have been developed in seemingly endless variety.
Among the running varieties are "Laird of Skye" and "Skeleton Key." The clumping varieties such as "Butterfly Wings" and "Iron Butterfly" will cover ground, but at a slower pace. All foamflowers enjoy moderate to heavy shade and woodland soil that drains well, but retains moisture in summer.
Cultivars of the Eastern alumroots tolerate a bit more sun than foamflowers and will grow under dryer conditions. Older gardeners may be slightly confused by the alumroots, as they were introduced to them by way of their Western sister, the coralbells (Heuchera sanguinia), a sun-loving species know for its red flowers. By contrast, the alumroots are grown primarily for their beautifully marked foliage.
At the top of my list of favorites is one of the oldest, "Montrose Ruby," whose burgundy leaves, blotched with silver, lend true elegance to the shade border. They're not spreaders, but are easily divided, and stunning when planted in drifts.
The flowers of most of the Eastern alumroots are insignificant, except for some of the varieties of Heuchera villosa, such as "Autumn Bride," whose foot-tall scapes of white flowers can light up the edge of the woods in late summer.
Two species of native phloxes make excellent woodland groundcovers. Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) and creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) are both polite additions to a shade border. The blue, white, or purple flowers in early spring are similar in the two species, but creeping phlox has more rounded leaves and spreads by stolons rather than expanding clumps. Both species are eight to 10 inches in height when in bloom.
Some newer selections of woodland phlox include "Louisiana" and "Blue Moon." Among the better forms of creeping phlox are "Bruce's White" and "Sherwood Purple."
One of the very few native groundcovers for dry shade has the added attraction of being evergreen. The only thing it lacks is a good press agent, as it's saddled with the lackluster botanical name of Waldsteinia fragarioides, and the ho-hum common name of barren strawberry.
Nevertheless, it's a fine groundcover, resembling a small version of a strawberry plant, but sporting shiny evergreen leaves and bright yellow flowers in spring. Although it can grow in heavy shade, Waldsteinia can also deal with almost full sun. I use it in tough shade spots where I need a real survivor.
For those who like plants on the cutting edge, try some of the woodland sedges. They're just now making their way onto the scene. I noticed a striking gray-leafed sedge while hiking last spring and identified it in a nursery catalog. It was Carex platyphylla, or broad-leaf sedge. It displays inch-and-a-half-wide leaves in a beautiful shade of blue-gray.
I've long grown a related species, Carex plantaginea, the plantain sedge, for its wide green foliage and seersucker texture. It's particularly at home along a stream bank or near water. Both of these grass-like plants top out at about 8 inches.
(Lindsay Bond Totten, a horticulturist, writes about gardening for Scripps Howard News Service.)
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