Ivydene Gardens Plants: Ground-Cover Plant Name: M
The process below provides a uniform method for comparing every plant detailed in the following galleries with the ones already compared in the relevant plant gallery from the last list of plant galleries in this cell:-

• These are the galleries that will provide the plants to be added to their own Extra Index Pages
• Bee plants for hay-fever sufferers - Bee-Pollinated Index
• Plants that grow in Chalk - A,
• Rock Garden and Alpine Flowers - A,
• Bulbs from the Infill Galleries see Hardy Bulbs, Half-hardy Bulbs, etc in the second row of Topic Table, usually positioned as the first table on the left.
• The complete Camera Photo is displayed on the screen
• Climber in 3 Sector Vertical Plant System
• Plants with Sense of Fragrance

The following Extra Index of Wildflowers is created in the Borage Wildflower Gallery, to which the Wildflowers found in the above list will have that row entry copied to.
Its wildflower flower thumbnail - or foliage thumbnail if it does not have flowers - will be compared with the others in that gallery per month.
The Header Row for the Extra Indices pages is the same as used in this 1000 Ground Cover A of Plants Topic:-
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, XYZ

Having transferred the Extra Index row entry to the relevant Extra Index row for the same type of plant in a gallery below; then
its flower or foliage thumbnail will be compared per month in that relevant gallery:-

• Aquatic
• Bamboo
• Bedding
• Bulb
• Conifer - Conifers have no flowers and are used for their foliage and cones
• Deciduous Shrub
• Deciduous Tree
• Evergreen Perennial
• Evergreen Shrub
• Evergreen Tree
• Fern - Ferns have no flowers and are used for their foliage
• Grass - Grass is used for its grass inflorescence and foliage
• Hedging
• Herbaceous Perennial
• Herb
• Odds and Sods
• Rhododendron, Azalea and Camellia
• Soft Fruit
• Top Fruit
• Vegetable
• Wild Flower

The plants normally selected by most landscapers and designers are by nature low-growing, rampant, spreading, creep-crawly things and yet the concept of ground cover demands no such thing. The ideal description of a groundcover plant includes:-

• a bold dense mass of leaves completely covering the ground most of the year; evergreens gain gold stars.
• They should require little or no maintenance - if you have to give the plant more than its share of attention, you might as well save your money and spend the time weeding.
• use the plant on ground areas that are difficult to maintain, such as steep banks or boggy patches.
• use the plant to cover areas where not much will grow, such as deep shade or sandy soils.

Ground Cover a thousand beautiful plants for difficult places by John Cushnie (ISBN 1 85626 326 6) provides details of plants that fulfill the above requirements.

Using these groundcover plants in your planting scheme (either between your trees/shrubs in the border or for the whole border) will - with mulching your beds to a 4 inch depth and an irrigation system - provide you with a planted garden with far less time required for border maintenance.

Wildflower Flower Shape and Landscape Uses gallery provides Landscaping List by Use pages which include some of these ground-cover plants. Landscaping with Perennials by Emily Brown. 5th printing 1989 by Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-063-0 provides the planting site pages for perennials, which include most plant types except Annuals and Biennials.

Plants for Dry Gardens by Jane Taylor. Published by Frances Lincoln Limited in 1993. ISBN 0-7112-0772-0. Jane Taylor and her husband grew plants in their garden of 2.5 acres of acidic shale mine waste on ground most of which could not retain water or nutrients and would scarcely sustain even the most tenacious of weeds.
A typical British garden with its flowery borders and green lawns needs the equivalent of 1 (2.5 cms) of rain every 10 days to look its best. By choosing from the plants in the above book, canny gardeners will quickly learn to give their gardens the best chance of looking respectable even through prolonged dry spells.
Start by improving your soil in your garden by studying the diagram showing the interaction between clay, organic matter, silt and sand to make soil and then follow the advice on how to improve your clay, chalk or sandy soil lower down the same page; before reading how you can provide the soil nutrients, including those for clay soil.
Then, choose your plants from:-

• Trees and Shrubs to form the framework,
• Palms and Cycads,
• Conifers,
• Climbers to provide backdrops, shade and cover for vertical surfaces,
• Perennials and Ephemerals for filling the garden with flower and foliage,
• Grasses for vertical outlines as foils and contrasts,
• Bulbs for companion, underplanting and massed display,
• Succulents and Xerophytes; and
• Dry Garden Maintenance - Starting with the Soil, Planting, Windbreaks, Lawns and Lawn Substitutes, and Irrigation Techniques.

Each ground cover plant of this 1000 has further details from her book, if it is in there.

 

Plants for Ground-Cover by Graham Stuart Thomas. Published by J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd in 1970 - reprinted (with further revisions) in 1990. ISBN 0-460-12609-1. This gives details on many more ground cover plants with inclusion (in the Index) of figures denoting the Hardiness Zones for each species in the United States of America.
 

Plant Name

Major source of honey in the UK Yes/No
Used by
HoneyBees - HB,
Short-Tongued Bumblebees - ST,
Long-Tongued Bumblebees - LT,
Solitary Bees - SOL
from Plants for Bees by w.d.j. Kirk and f.n. Howes ISBN 978-0-86098 271-5

Type

The key ingredients a bird needs from your garden are
Shelter,
Food and
Water,
as expanded in Ground-cover Plant
Name W Page

Height x Spread in inches (cms)

Spacing distance between plants of same species in inches (cms)

Foliage

Some poisonous ground cover plants are indicated, but there are others in Cultivated Poisonous Plants and
Wildflower Poisonous Plants

Flower Colour in Month(s).

Use Pest Control using Plants to provide a Companion Plant to aid your selected groundcover plant or deter its pests

Comments

United States Department of Agriculture
Plant Hardiness Zone Map -
This map of USA is based on a range of average annual minimum winter temperatures, divided into 13 of 10-degree F zones, that this plant will thrive in USA, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
There are other Hardiness Zone Maps for the rest of the world including the one for Great Britain and Ireland of zones 7a to 10a.
Zone 5-9 indicates that the minimum zone temperature this plant will grow is 5 and top minimum zone temperature is 9 - above this number is too hot or below 5 is too cold for the plant. If your zone in your area of your country is within that range or your zone number is greater, then you can grow it in your garden.

Pruning of
Woody Plants in Groups 1 - 13 and
Herbaceous Perennials in Group 14 with
Ferns in Group 15 and
Evergreen Perennials in Group 16.
 

Macleaya microcarpa
'Kelway's Coral Plume'

Herbaceous Perennial above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

84 x 36 (210 x 90)

Grey to Olive-Green

Deep Buff to Coral-Pink in
July-August

"Plume Poppy". Invasive. Native to western and central China
Dappled shade in open woodland
Zone 4-9
Moist garden soil in a sheltered position. Annual compost mulches in spring helps to maintain vigour.

With its scalloped foliage it is very effective with perpetual-flowering roses such as some old Chinas, Teas, and Hybrid Musks, and many of the David Austin English rose cultivars. Its form is enhanced by a background of bronze or purple foliage. The rootstock of this plant is invasive so that plants tend to wander from their original positions.

This photo of the black support posts for the Macleaya microcarpa 'Kelways Coral Plume' was taken on the 4 March 2013. The maintenance staff have removed the support posts from last year's growth before cutting it down in the autumn. In the spring, they have reinstated the posts, but they have moved them at least 12 inches (30cms) away from the stumps of this perennial. This is changing the original planting plan, which they are not appearing to follow. Since this increase in the area used by these support systems each year by the 1 year students at RHS Wisley, they do not realise that they are changing the original planting plan out of all recognition.

48 out of 175 permanent herbaceous plants in the Mixed Borders could not be identified when in flower at RHS Wisley, some of which were due to the their plant label being overgrown by the plant in front or the plant in front obscuring it because it had been allowed to exceed its original alloted space.

That is why you need to create a history of the garden so that planting errors can be corrected.

The unnamed Miscanthus stumps are in the right hand half of the Netlon Garden Net Green black post support system shown above.

Companions - the larger bolder grasses, phlomis fruticosa, solidago, kniphofia, phygelius, phormium. Macleaya is a good cut flower for fresh or dried arrangements, but be careful: the stems and leaf stalks produce a yellowish orange sap that can stain clothes and skin. As with any milky-sapped plant, singe the bottom of the flower stems when used as a cut.

Magnolia grandiflora 'Exmouth'

Evergreen Tree above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

360 x 360 (900 x 900)

Light Green leaves, russet-felted beneath

Creamy-White in
September-October. In cool climates the fragrant cup-shaped flowers begin to open from summer onwards, while in hotter areas the flowering season starts in spring

"Bull Bay, Southern Magnolia". From southern USA, where it is surprisingly drought-tolerant even in desert conditions, though it will need occasional deep irrigation to leach out soil salts. Dense conical shape with fragrant flowers. It makes a small tree in the desert, but can become very bulky in more favourable climates
Full Sun, Part Shade with protection from strong or salty winds.
Zones 6-11
Deep, fertile, well-drained soil with ample leaf-mould.

Transplant Magnolia as little as possible, and prune when required (which is but rarely) in summer. Plant in April or October. After flowering, prune out weak wood and dead flower shoots. Pruning thick branches causes internal rotting.

Magnolia liliiflora
'Nigra'

Deciduous Shrub above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

96 x 72 (210 x 180)

Dark Green

Deep Purple in
July-October

"Lily Magnolia". Bushy shrub from China with fragrant flowers.
Full Sun, Part Shade with protection from strong or salty winds.
Zones 6-10
Deep, fertile, well-drained soil with ample leaf-mould.

Magnolia stellata
'King Rose'

Deciduous Shrub above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

84 x 72 (210 x 180)

Dark Green

Pink and White in
March-April

"Star Magnolia". Many-branched, compact shrub from Japan with fragrant flowers.
Full Sun, Part Shade with protection from strong or salty winds.
Zones 5-9
Deep, fertile, well-drained soil with ample leaf-mould.

Mahonia aquifolium

Mahonia species. Plants that flower in autumn and winter may become more important to bumblebees in the future.
No HB, ST, SOL

Evergreen Shrub 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

36 x 60 (90 x 150)

Bright Green in Spring and Summer, Bronze/Purple/Red in Autumn and Winter

Yellow in
April-May

"Oregon Grape, Holly Grape". Dense, bushy shrubs for hedges, windbreaks and ground-covers.
Blue-Black berries.
Full Sun
Zones 5-10
Well-drained, fertile soil with adequate water.

Bee Forage Plants and UK Butterfly with Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis and Butterfly Usage of Plants.

See Winter-Active Bumblebees Information Sheet from Hymettus Ltd.
Hymettus Ltd is the premier source of advice on the conservation of bees, wasps and ants within Great Britain and Ireland.
Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society (BWARS). A society dedicated to studying and recording bees, wasps and ants in Britain and Ireland.

Mahonia aquifolium 'Atropurpurea'

Evergreen Shrub 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

36 x 60 (90 x 150)

Bright Green turn dark Red-Purple in Winter

Yellow in
April-May

Blue-Black berries. Mahonia aquifolium, is fairly drought-resistant, but dislikes extreme heat and if grown in desert areas must have shade.

The whole plant of Mahonia aquifolium is poisonous.

Mahonia aquifolium 'Orange Flame'

Evergreen Shrub 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

24 x 36 (60 x 90)

Rust-Orange young foliage turning Red in Winter

Yellow in
April-May

Blue-Black berries.

Mahonia aquifolium is good in a woodland garden or towards the front of a shrub border.It associates well with bluebells, muscaris, smaller narcissi and tulips, and white flowering currants. Muscari armenicum 'Blue Spike' in front of Mahonia aquifolium 'Apollo' provides a continuity of blue contrasting with the yellow of the mahonia flowers.

Mahonia japonica

Evergreen Shrub above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

84 x 120 (210 x 300)

Dark Green

Fragrant Yellow in
November-April

Blue-Purple berries. A handsome large shrub with pinnate leaves, each leaflet rather like, and as spiny as, a holly leaf.

The arching sprays of yellow flowers appear in winter and are fragrant of lily-of-the-valley - Zone 7.

Mahonia japonica 'Bealei'
(Mahonia bealei)

Evergreen Shrub 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

72 x 120 (180 x 300)

Blue-Green

Fragrant Yellow in
November-April

"Motherleaf Mahonia". From western China. Blue-Purple berries.
Full Sun
Zones 6-10
Well-drained, fertile soil with adequate water

Mahonia lomariifolia

Evergreen Shrub above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

120 x 72 (300 x 180)

Dark Green

Fragrant Yellow in
December-March

One of the tallest and most elegant mahonias. Blue-Black berries.
Full Sun
Zones 7-10
Well-drained, fertile soil with adequate water

Mahonia napaulensis

Evergreen Shrub above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

96 x 120 (240 x 300)

Glossy Dark Green

Yellow in
April-May

Blue-Black berries.

Mahonia nervosa

Evergreen Shrub below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

18 x 36 (45 x 90)

Glossy Dark Green

Yellow in clusters in
June-July

Blue-Black berries. A slowly suckering shrub forming mats of hard prickly leaves, green in summer and flushed with mahogany in cold weather - Zone 6.

Mahonia x wagneri 'Pinnacle'

Evergreen Shrub above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

84 x 120 (210 x 300)

Bronze in Spring, Bright Green in Summer, Autumn and Winter

Yellow in
April-June

Blue-Black berries.

Mahonia pumila

Evergreen Shrub below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

12 x 36 (30 x 90)

Grey-Green

Dark Yellow in
April-June

Blue-Black berries.

Mahonia repens

Evergreen Shrub below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

12 x 36 (30 x 90)

Matt Green

Dark Yellow in
May-June

"Creeping Mahonia". Blue-Black berries. A small shrub forming a low carpet of matt green leaves
Full Sun, Filtered Shade.
Moist Soil

This is a plant for medium and small areas, including borders and patio settings with rocks and lattice.

Mahonia x wagneri 'Undulata'

Evergreen Shrub 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

72 x 72 (180 x 180)

Glossy Dark Green turning Red-Purple in Winter

Rich Yellow in
April-June

Blue-Black berries.

Mahonia x media 'Charity'

Evergreen Shrub above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

144 x 108 (360 x 270)

Dark Green

Yellow in
December-March

Blue-Black berries. Mahonia japonica and the tall, rather frost-tender Mahonia lomariifolia are united to become Mahonia x media. The result is a group of hybrids with the showy yellow candle-clusters of the second parent, but hardier. There are many named cultivars, most of which are barely scented.
Full Sun
Zones 6-10
Well-drained, fertile soil with adequate water

Associate with a carpet of Euonymus fortunei cultivars, mingling with early-flowering winter heaths, evergreen ferns and sedges, and the earliest snowdrops.
Autumn foliage as well as fruits may remain as this Mahonia comes into bloom, as it is below the crab apple's fruits of Malus 'Professor Spenger', which stay on that tree throughout the flowering of the mahonia.

Malus
'John Downie'

Yes, HB, ST, LT, SOL

Deciduous Tree above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

312 x 240 (780 x 600)

Bright Green

White in
May

"Apple, Crab Apple". Orange and Red fruit.
Full Sun
Zones 3-9
Fertile, well-drained, loamy soil with protection from strong winds

Malus 'Royalty'

Deciduous Tree above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

336 x 300 (840 x 750)

Purple

Crimson-Purple in
April-May

Dark Red.
Malus (Apple and Crab-apple) are Trees for Lawn. See Top Fruit page for sizes and shapes that suit any size of garden, however small.

Malus toringoides

Deciduous Tree above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

300 x 360 (750 x 900)

Bright Green in Spring and Summer, Yellow in Autumn

White in
May

Yellow fruit.

Malus thrive in any good garden soil providing the drainage is adequate. The bloom most freel;y in sunshine. Varietal forms are usually grafted on crab and apple stocks and can be obtained in bush form, half-standards or standards. Prune to shape and keep the centre of the tree open.

Malus
'Golden Hornet'

Deciduous Tree above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

312 x 276 (780 x 690)

Bright Green

White in
May

Golden-Yellow fruit.

Malva moschata

Useful to bees and in flower until frosts arrive.
No HB, ST, LT, SOL

Deciduous Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

24 x 24 (60 x 60)

Dark Green

Rose-pink in
July-October

"Musk Mallow". Tap-rooted, bushy. Cottage garden favourite. Cut back the flowering stems to ground leaving the basal leaves after flowering
Full Sun
Zone 4-9
Well-drained, moist sandy soil

Companions - phlox paniculata, boltonia, coreopsis, veronica, phlomis, veronicastrum, lysimchia ephemerum. Plants will be small if kept too dry.

Meconopsis paniculata

Evergreen Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

72 x 24 (180 x 60)

Greyish-Green

Pale Yellow in
June-August

"Blue Poppy".
Dappled Shade
Zone 7
For Neutral to Acid soil, mulch with well-rotted manure and leafmould in spring.

Companions - pulmonaria, dicentra, hosta, helleborus, polygonatum, arisaema, geranium, heuchera; the woodland garden. Mulch with coarse organic material (compost would be best), along with manure (but not over the crown). Water during dry spells in the summer.

Meconopsis quintuplinervia

Herbaceous Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

18 x 12 (45 x 30)

Mid- to Dark Green

Pale lavender-Blue in
July-September

"Harebell Poppy".
Rabbit Resistant - see other Rabbit Resistant Plants.
Full Sun, Part Shade
Zone 7
Moist leafy, lime-free, soil.

Part shade Woodland garden association - has meconopsis, candelabra primulas and ferns .

Melicytus crassifolius

Evergreen Shrub 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

48 x 48 (120 x 120)

Dark Green

Yellow in
June-July

Purple berries.

Mentha gracilis 'Variegata'

Mentha species. When grown commercially, they are harvested before they flower.
No HB, ST, LT, SOL

Herb below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

12 x 36 (30 x 90)

Dark Green striped and flecked Gold

Lilac in
july-September

"Ginger Mint, Red Mint". Wide-spreading / creeping clump.
Full Sun, Part Shade
Zone 6
Moist, fertile soil. Strongly invasive so restrict its growing area - or grow within a pot.

Mentha longifolia

Herb 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

48 x 36 (120 x 90)

Green to Silver-Grey

Lilac or White in
July-September

"Horsemint". Grown for ornament only - the musty scent of the foliage is not pleasant, so put it at the back of a large border.
Full Sun, Part Shade
Zone 6
Moist, fertile soil.

Mentha x piperita 'Citrata'

Herb below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

20 x 36 (50 x 90)

Dark Green tinged Reddish-Purple in Sun or Copper-Red in shade.

Pinkish-Purple in
September

"Orange Mint, Eau de Cologne Mint". Strong-growing spreading / creeping mat.
Full Sun, Part Shade
Zone 3
Moist, fertile soil.

Mentha pulegium

Herb below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

12 x 18 (30 x 45)

Bright Green

Lilac in
July-September

"Pennyroyal". Mat-forming with a fresh, pungent mint scent. Creeping in every direction. Needs protection from hard frosts.
Full Sun
Zone 7
Native to wet places on sandy soils in western and central Europe, and western Asia.

Mentha spicata

Herb 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

36 x indefinite (90 x indefinite)

Bright Green

Pink, Lilac or White in
July-September

"Spearmint". Upright plant. Best grown in a container to curb its spread / creep, this is the usual mint for sauce.
Full Sun
Zone 5
From damp grassy places in central and southern Europe

Mentha suaveolens 'Variegata'

Herb 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

36 x indefinite (90 x indefinite)

Greyish-Green

Pink or White in
July-September

"Pineapple Mint". Runs strongly, with shoots often arising some way from the original clump.
Full Sun, Part Shade
Zone 6
Grows on wasteland in much of Europe.

Mespilus germanica

No HB, ST, LT, SOL why not fan-train it to chainlink fencing in smaller gardens.

Deciduous Shrub above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

240 x 300 (600 x 750)

Dark Green in Spring and Summer, Yellow-Brown in Autumn

White in
May-June

"Medlar". From Europe and southwest Asia bred for its brown fruit.
Full Sun
Zones 4-9
Well-drained soil and shelter from strong wind. It must not be allowed to dry out.

Microbiota decussata

Evergreen Ground-cover Conifer 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

36 x indefinite (90 x indefinite)

Mid-Green turn Bronze in Winter

...

"Russian Arborvitae". From Siberia. Usefull ground cover, similar to the spreading / creeping junipers. Besides groundcover, it can be a Speciman on its own or grouped with other low-growing conifers or heathers. It also makes a good foil for other more colourful plants, such as bulbs.
Full Sun
Zones 3-9
Free-draining soil. Suitable for dry soil garden. Prune only if absolutely necessary and then only into the new wood.
Some garden centres will not stock it because customers return it when it 'dies' when its foliage turns completely brown in winter. Use this change of colour to grow some tall winter flowering daffodils in front of it to complement it. It likes a well-drained soil and quickly spreads.

The whole plant of Microbiota decussata is poisonous.

Milium effusum 'Aureum'

Semi-Evergreen Grass 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

24 x 12 (60 x 30)

Rich Golden Yellow in Spring becoming Yellow-Green

24-36 (60-90) high Golden flowers in spikelets in
June-August

"Bowles' Golden Grass". Spectacular ground cover succeeding in cool positions in Part Shade.
Dappled Shade
Zone 5
Moist, well-drained, rich soil. Found in damp oak and beech woods on heavy alkaline soil throughout northern temperate regions, including Britain.

It is best treated as a short-lived perennial, as older plants tend to look dishevelled. Mass planting in blocks hides its natural grace, and it looks better scattered as individual tussocks, perhaps through a carpet of low-growing plants such as bugles, forget-me-nots, blue corydalis, geums, bluebells, brunneras, and omphalodes.

Tulipa tarda and Milium effusum 'Aureum'.

Mimulus guttatus

Herbaceous Stolon Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

12 x 36 (30 x 90)

Mid-Green

Yellow in
July-September

Invasive, upright or semi-prostrate. From western, midwestern and northeast USA.
All Mimulus are Rabbit Resistant - see other Rabbit Resistant Plants.
Full Sun
Zone 4-9
Damp soil
In cold localities, it is wiser to lift the mimulus roots and store them in a frame until May.

Companions ligularia, ajuga, carex elata, lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea', darmera, primula florindae; small ditches, edge of small waterfall. Ver attractive as a container plant.

Mimulus luteus

Herbaceous Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

12 x 24 (30 x 60)

Mid-Green

Yellow in
June-September

"Monkey Musk, Yellow Monkey Flower". Invasive, self-sows, can be grown in water
Full Sun
Zone 7-9 From Chile and naturalized elsewhere including Britain.

Mimulus ringens

Herbaceous Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

36 x 12 (90 x 30)

Mid-Green

Violet or White in
July-September

"Allegheny Monkey Flower". Upright, thrives in shallow water (6 inches - 15 cms - deep)
Full Sun
Zone 4-9
Moist soil or shallow water - from Eastern North America

Mirabilis jalapa

Deciduous Tuber Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

36 x 24 (90 x 60)

Mid Green

Fragrant Red, White or Yellow in
July-September

"Four o'clock Flower, Marvel of Peru". Bushy perennial, sometimes grown as an annual.
Full Sun
Zone 8
Tubers can be overwintered frost-free, or grown fresh from seed each year in well-drained, fertile soil. From Peru, and tropical areas of North, Central and South America.

Mitella stauropetala

Deciduous Rhizome Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

20 x 12 (50 x 30)

Purple-tinged Mid-Green

White or Purple in
July-September

Moltkia x intermedia

Evergreen Shrub below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

9 x 12
(23 x 30)

Dark Green

Bright Blue in
July

Monarda
'Beauty of Cobham'

Herbaceous Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

36 x 18 (90 x 45)

Purplish-Green

Pale Pink in
August-October

"Bergamot". Clump-forming.
Full Sun where summers are cool, or in dappled shade where they are hot.
Zone 4-9
Moist soil
Do not allow plants plants to dry out in summer and protect from excessive winter wet.
Two-tone harmonies - Try it with Verbascum 'Helen Johnson' behind it and pink flowers from a bedding nicotiana slipped between the 2 of them to provide a consistency of bright, clear colour all through the summer.

Companions - larger grasses, phlox, salvia, acanthus, achillea, penstemon, alchemilla, eupatorium. Most effective in large colonies, wild gardens (meadows), and the grass border.

Monarda
'Vintage Wine'

No HB, ST, LT, SOL

Herbaceous Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

36 x 18 (90 x 45)

Mid to Dark Green

Red-Purple in
August-October

"Bergamot, Bee Balm, Wild Bergamot".
Full Sun where summers are cool, or in dappled shade where they are hot.
Zone 4-9
Moist soil

Divide every 3 or 4 years using a sharp-edged spade. Top-dress with manure or compost every winter. Deadhead as flowers fade. Do not allow plants to dry out in summer. Cut back in late autumn to the crown.

Morina persica

Evergreen Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

60 x 24 (150 x 60)

Dark Green

Scented White in
August-September

Rosette-forming plant with toothed or deeply cut, very spiny leaves. From the Balkan Peninsula.
Full Sun
Zone 6
Very well-drained soil in a gravel garden. Growth will be unduly lush in rich soil. Plants dislike disturbance

Companions - saxifraga stolonifera, ajuga pyramidalis 'Metallica Crispa', acaena, euphorbia, sedum.

Morus nigra 'Wellington'

Deciduous Tree above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

480 x 600 (1200 x 1500)

Mid-Green

Pale Green in
June-July

"Black Mulberry". Green turning Red then dark Purple in September edible fruit. From Britain and northern Europe
Full Sun in sheltered position
Zones 6-10
Ferile, well-drained soil

Muscari

Muscari species yield pollen and nectar at a time when rather few other sources are available.
No HB, ST, LT, SOL

Herbaceous Bulb

8 x 2
(20 x 5)

Mid-Green

Blue or White in
April-May

Most of the "Grape Hyacinth" are undemanding small bulbs with tiny, tight-lipped bells packed into a tapering spike. They all grow to between 4 (10) and 6 (15) in height and are suitable for dry soils on rock gardens. Plant in October, from 2-3 inches (5-7.5) deep and 3 inches apart; lift from the ground only when overcrowded.

Photo of Muscari botryoides 'Album' taken at Sissinghurst on 22 September 2019 by Garnons-Williams.

Photo of Muscari massayanum taken by Garnons-williams in the rock garden outside the Alpine House on 17 February 2015.

Photo of Muscari azureum used in a bedding area taken by Garnons-Williams on 16 March 2013.

All Muscari are Rabbit Resistant - see other Rabbit Resistant Plants.

Muscari armeniacum is used in the front of the border and for gravel or rock gardens, and excellent for underplanting late-leafing herbaceous plants and deciduous shrubs. Its foliage appears in the autumn, but by flowering time the leaves have flopped into an untidy mat. Planting among erythroniums, wood anemones, pulmonarias or euphorbias help disguise this fault. Plants associate well with white, cream and soft yellow flowers, such as smaller narcissi.

Muscari latifolium with its deep purple-blue fertile florets contrasts with soft yellow and yellow-green foliage and flowers; when seen at close range. Associate with euphorbias, erythroniums, wood anemones and smaller narcissi at the front of a border or in a rock garden, and for underplanting late-leafing herbaceous perennials.

Myosotidium hortensia

Evergreen Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

24 x 24 (60 x 60)

Very Glossy Mid-Green

Dark Blue in
July

"Chatham Island Forget-Me-Not".

Myosotis sylvatica and it's cultivars

Myosotis species
No HB, ST, LT, SOL

Herbaceous Perennial

12 x 6
(30 x 15)

Grey-Green

Blue or White in
May-July

"Forget-me-not". Behaves like a biennial, self-sows.

All myosotis thrive in the sun and in ordinary soil. Many are useful for bedding or for the rock garden.
All Myosotis are Rabbit Resistant - see other Rabbit Resistant Plants.
Zone 4-9

Companions - Spring-flowering bulbs,early irises, viola, dicentra, meconopsis cambrica, galium odoratum, erysimum; the white form pairs very nicely with 'Viola 'Bowles' Black'; try myosotis alpestris 'Gold 'n' Sapphire' with tradescantias or centaureas with the same combination of blue flowers and golden leaves

Myrteola nummularia

Evergreen Sub-Shrub below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

2 x 12
(5 x 30)

Dark Green

White in
July

Pink berries.

Myrtus communis

Double flowered varieties of this plant will be no benefit to bees, like Myrtus communis 'Flore pleno'.
No HB, ST, LT, SOL

Evergreen Shrub above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

120 x 120 (300 x 300)

Glossy Dark Green

Fragrant, White flowers with central puff of stamens in
August-October

"Common Myrtle, True Myrtle". An erect aromatic Mediterranean shrub is very tolerant of neglect, and also able to withstand drought once established.
Full Sun, Light Shade
Zones 8-11
Moist, well-drained soil. Trimming keeps them compact - shorten back over-long shoots or cut to shape in April. They can be used for hedging or as container plants, clipped into a ball or pyramid. In cooler areas, container plants need protection during winter.

Myrtus communis var. tarentina is more compact, slow-growing variety with tiny leaves, ideal for hedging.

Site design and content copyright ©December 2006. Page structure changed September 2012. Height x Spread in feet changed to Height x Spread in inches (cms) May 2015. Data added to existing pages December 2017. Zone and Companion Data added April 2022. The 1000 Ground Cover plants detailed above will be compared in the Comparison Pages of the Wildflower Shape Gallery and in the flower colour per month comparison pages of Evergreen Perennial Gallery starting in November 2022. Chris Garnons-Williams.

DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are not responsible for the content and/or quality of external web sites linked from this site.  

Height in inches (cms):-

25.4mm = 1 inch
304.8mm = 12 inches
12 inches = 1 foot
3 feet = 1 yard
914.4mm = 1 yard

I normally round this to
25mm = 1 inch
300mm = 30 cms = 12 inches =1 foot,
900 mm = 3 feet = 1 yard and
1000mm = 100 cms = 1 metre = 40 inches

Details of smaller Muscari, Myosotis and Myrtus and which container to grow the plant in:-

• A. The plant can be grown in sinks, trough, pans or scree beds
• B. The plant is best accommodated in a trough or sink.
• C. Suitable for peat beds and raised beds (suitable for alpine rhododendrons) - remember that rhododendrons are toxic to honey bees

I have included within these pages on 1000 Ground Cover Plants information from other pages within this PLANTS Topic like

• Poisonous Plants
• Flower Arranging
• Rabbit Resistant
• Bee Forage
• Attracts Bird/Butterfly

and links to Rock Garden Plants Suitable for Small Gardens Index Gallery.

Any of these 1000 Ground Cover Plants may well have further details about them in the remainder of the pages in this PLANTS Topic linked to from the PLANTS PAGE MENU above.
 

MULCHES
A good, weed-free mulch is a most valuable addition to a new ground cover planting. A couple of inches (5 cms) will keep weeds down and make them easier to pull out if they do appear; 4-5 inches (10-12.5 cms) will prevent most weeds from growing. Some of the better mulches are sawdust, fir bark, ground bark, and tree leaves, as well as gravel and rocks. There are many others of limited availability, depending on your area.

Besides preventing weeds from growing, some organic mulches improve the soil and add nutrients as they decompose. They also conserve moisture, an important consideration where summertime water is in short supply and anytime young, shallow-rooted plants are just getting started. Finally, soil temperature is controlled evenly, creating a more favourable root environment.

You might also try a living mulch of flowering annuals - see Bedding - while the ground cover is filling in or have a green manure of Caliente Mustard 199 to provide nutrients for the ground cover plants. It will hide the bare spots with colour.

In some harsh-winter areas, some ground covers benefit from a winter mulch. A mulch applied at the time of a new autumn planting will prolong the time it takes the soil to freeze, allowing plants to become further established.

With an established ground cover, apply the mulch
after
the ground is frozen, to keep it that way. Damage occurs when the soil alternatively thaws and freezes. A loosely applied mulch such as straw or shredded leaves over the ground cover also insulates plants against drying winter winds. Air should be able to circulate around the foliage.

Your Ground Cover requires watering and this guide may help you.
Use a strimmer to mow the ground cover to about a 6 inch (15 cm) height in the spring before new spring growth occurs - to tidy it up.

Mulching Materials

Sawdust, Wood Chips, Wood Shavings

Low in plant nutrients, decompose slowly, tend to pack down. Well-rotted material preferrred. Can be decomposed if nitrate of ammonia or nitrate of soda is supplemented at the rate of 1 pound (444 grammes) per 100 square feet (9 square metres) to stop the decomposing process without it depriving the ground cover plants of nitrogen. Keep away from building foundations; may cause subterranean termites (you may be able to buy these from a pet store) to arrive.
I would not recommend using fresh sawdust, wood chips or wood shavings, since they take from the ground more than they give.

Peat Moss

Attractive, but expensive for large areas. Should be kept moist at all times.
Peat is disappearing fast and should not be used for any purpose otherwise there will be no peat bogs left in the world.

Rotted Manure

May contain weed seeds.
Rotted cow manure from overwintering in barns is unlikely to contain seeds, since the cows have 4 stomachs and eat the same food 4 times.

Spent Mushroom Compost

Often available in areas where commercial mushrooms are produced. Usually inexpensive, with a good colour that blends into the landscape.
I find that about half disappears by each autumn, and it is light to replace. I prefer this mulch for its nutrients, stopping of weed seeds germinating, and ease of hoeing it when weeds do appear using a swoe.

Shredded Hardwood Bark

Makes an excellent mulch that is easy to apply and very attractive. Lasts longer than peat moss, adds valuable organic matter to the soil.
It has the same problem as for the Sawdust, Wood Chips and Wood Shavings in that it takes nitrogen from the soil to decompose it. As you walk on it to maintain the bed you are likely to push it into the soil. Although it may last longer that Spent Mushroom Compost, I would still prefer to use Spent Mushroom Compost.

Pine Needles

Will not mat down. Fairly durable.
Advantage is that it would acidify the soil as well and a useful mulch to use round acid-loving plants like hydrangeas, rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas as well as these plants in
Info - Lime-Free (Acid) Soil
Lime-Free (Acid) A-F 1
Lime-Free (Acid) A-F 2
Lime-Free (Acid) A-F 3
Lime-Free (Acid) G-L
Lime-Free (Acid) M-R
Lime-Free (Acid) S-Z.

Tree Leaves
(Whole or Shredded in the autumn).
There are several reasons why deciduous trees lose their leaves: 

• It means the tree spends less energy through the harsh winter
• It conserves moisture within the trunk and keeps it from drying out
• It allows wind to blow through the branches, putting less strain on the tree – a serious concern in winter storms and gales 

Excellent source of humus. Rot rapidly; high in nutrients. Oak leaves especially valuable for Azaleas, Camellias, and Rhododendrons.
Dropped leaves generally have lost most of their water content but retain many of their other components which can be recycled to be used for other plants. I tend to mow the leaves on the lawn for the ones that have landed there and the others from the flower beds that I have blown from them or raked from those same beds. I then get shredded leaves which when laid as a mulch do not blow away as the unshredded ones would, especially on a slope. You can also mow your drive, paths, pavement and road to collect your own leaves and the ones from public areas for the same purpose - use the highest cut height on your rotary mower so that you do not cut into the path, road, pavement etc.

Ground Corn Cobs

Excellent for improving soil structure
and is especially useful for the soil around young evergreen trees and shrubs.

Gravel, Stone Chips

Limited use, but particularly good for rock garden plantings. Extremely durable, holds down weeds
but does not stop them growing,
nor does it supply nutrients or humus.

Hay, Grass Clippings

Unattractive, but repeated use builds up reserve of available nutrients that lasts for years.
According to this American Research it is a good idea to cut the grass and leave the mowings on top of the lawn. IF YOU FOLLOW THEIR GUIDELINES, THEN YOU WILL NOT BE CREATING MORE THATCH AND IT WILL BE OKAY. I tend to collect mine and lay a 0.5 inch (1 cm) layer onto flower or vegetable beds, under hedges and under shrubs and trees once a fortnight. The green mowings turn light brown and look fine. If you put another mulch like hay or any of the others on steeply sloping beds, then the only way of keeping those mulches in place is put this grass mowings on top - it will not move even in heavy rain and so the stones in the bed will not be washed out onto the lawn area below.

Straw

Same as "Hay, Grass Clippings", but lower in nutrients, although furnishes considerable potassium.
 

Strulch ® is a light and easy to use garden mulch made from wheat straw for organic gardening. A patented process developed by Dr Geoff Whiteley at The University of Leeds, is used to ‘preserve’ the straw so that it lasts for up to two years and gives an earthy brown colour.

Strulch has a neutral pH and can be used throughout the garden on borders, raised beds, around cultivated fruit and on vegetable plots.

Why Strulch is beneficial?

▪ Strulch mulch reduces weed growth by up to 95%

▪ Strulch mulch helps retain moisture around plants

▪ Strulch mulch enriches soil and its structure

▪ Strulch mulch is suitable around flowers, shrubs, fruit and vegetables

▪ Strulch, the straw garden mulch, lasts up to two years, spreading the cost, saving water and fertiliser, making your plants grow healthier and stronger and giving you more time to relax.

▪ The physical properties of Strulch mulch together with the embedded minerals deters slugs and snails.

Bark

Ground and packaged commercially. Especially attractive in this form. Sometimes available in rough form from pulpwood loading sites.

Melcourt Industries sells many different types of mulches and you can use their Bag for Life, which you can re-use over and over again.

From Annuals and Biennials chapter in Plants for Ground-cover by Graham Stuart Thomas - Gardens consultant to the National Trust. Published by J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd in 1970, Reprinted (with further revisions) 1990. ISBN 0-460-12609-1:-

"I think there is a case to be considered for annuals and biennials in ground-cover schemes so long as they will sow themselves freely.
These suggestions may be useful for large areas outside our gardens where a 'show' for a summer or two is needed, while shrubs and perennial ground-covers are being increased for later permanent planting.. They are easy to control if one studies the life-cycle with a view to allowing seed to develop if required or to remove it before it is shed.

Use

Plant

Comments

Lawn and ground-cover under conifer trees

Poa annua

The needles under a cedar tree were weekly swept away and the grass, despite fertilizers, top dressing, re-seading and re-turfing, simply would not grow. The needles were left alone and within 12 months the area became self-sown with a close and permanent sward of Poa nnua. This little grass regenerates itself constantly so that it makes a lawn, though each plant has only a short life.

Oxalis rosea

This is highly successful in the shade of conifers or any other tree

Cyclamen hederifolium

This is a perennial, though sowing itself freely when suited and it is here because plants to grow under cedars and yews, somewhat away from the trunks, are very few.

Temporary ground-cover under trees

Tropaeolum or Eschscholtzia

A sheet of 'Gleam' nasturtiums or eschscholtzia; both are free-flowering and easily pulled up, though like all annuals it may be a year or two later before all dispersed seeds have germinated.

Silene armeria and Iberis amara are equally successful, with Sett Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) creating a dwarf ground-cover carpet in late summer.

Ground-cover under trees with high rainfall

Claytonia sibirica (Montia sibirica)

This grows under trees where the grass is thin at high altitude and high rainfall. It covers the area - interpersed with primroses and Oxalia acetosella - with a mass of pinky-white stars a few inches (cms) above the ground.

Claytonia perfoliata is an annual; it is usually classed as a weed but is excellent cover in cool, acid soil, but far less conspicuous in flower

Streamsides, river banks and fringes of boggy ground

Impatiens glandulifera (Impatiens roylei, Annual Balsam)

It is a rapid colonizer because its seeds are ejected with some force from the ripe pods. It seeds with great abandon and grows to 72 (180) or more; its many pink flowers make a great show.

Full sun and drier soils than by streamsides

Angelica archangelica

It very quickly produces great green heads in spring, ripening quickly, with the result that the ground is thickly covered with seedlings in late summer.

Oenothera biennis (Evening Primrose) will colonize any sunny waste place and produce yellow blooms for weeks in the summer

Lychnis coronaria is a prolific seeder with rosettes of silvery basal leaves.

Erysimum linifolium (Wallflower) produces lilac flowers

Plants that seed about with abandon

• Phytolacca american Poke Weed) has great spikes of shing black seeds
• Geranium pratense, a soft blue flower, 36 (90) high, with a basal clump of divided leaves
• Myrrhis odorata (Sweet Cicely), old garden herb
• Borago laxiflora with pale blue flowers
• on neutral, well-drained soil, Lupinus hartwegii and Lupinus polyphyllus, with Lupinus arboreus (Tree Lupin) are useful
• temporary ground-cover of Lupinus angustifolius and Lupinus luteus, which are used agriculturally to enrich the land as a 'green manure'.
• Verbascum nigrum, produces yellow or white 36 (90) high spikes in summer and it makes good basal rosetttes while it sows itself freely.
• Foxgloves (Digitalis) and honesty (Lumaria) seed themselves freely and in a way will act as a ground-cover on account of their large basal leaves.

From Appendix II Lists of plants for special conditions in Plants for Ground-cover by Graham Stuart Thomas - Gardens consultant to the National Trust. Published by J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd in 1970, Reprinted (with further revisions) 1990. ISBN 0-460-12609-1:-

Plant

Plant

Plant

1. Plants requiring lime-free soils

On limy soils it is wiser not to attempt to grow the genera in this list. They are mainly woodland plants and thrive best in soil in which humus has been mixed.
Species of Ceanothus, Berberis, Chaenomeles, Cytisus, Iris, Lupinus, Pimelia and Myosotideum are not so dependent on humus so long as the soil is acid or neutral.

Arctostaphylos.
Azalea - this is poisonous to bees and its honey to humans.
Berberis thunbergii and varieties.
Blechnum.
Boykinia.
Bruckenthalia.
Calluna.
Camelia.
Carex pendula.
Cassiope.
Chaenomeles.
Claytonia sibirica.
Clethra.
Comptonia.
Cornus canadensis.
Cyathodes.
Cytisus scoparius prostratus (Sarothamnus).
Daboecia.
Dicentra.
Empetrum.
Epigaea.

Erica.
Galax.
Gaultheria.
Gaylussacia.
Houstonia.
Hydrangea macrophylla.
Iris douglasiana.
Iris innominata.
Leiophyllum.
Leucothoe.
Linnaea.
Lithospermum diffusum.
Lupinus.
Luzula.
Meconopsis.
Mitchella.
Myosotideum.
Ourisia.
Pachysandra.
Paxistima.
Pernettya.

Philesia.
Pieris.
Pimelia.
Pyrola.
Rhododendron - this is poisonous to bees and its honey to humans.
Sarothamnus, see Cytisus.
Schizocodon.
Shortia.
Skimmia.
Smilacina.
Soldanella.
Tanakaea.
Vaccinium.
Woodwardia.

2. Plants which will thrive in limy soils

While it may be taken that any genus not mentioned in 1 will tolerate lime, many, such as Rosa, prefer the soil to be neutral. The following will thrive in soil that is actively limy, even over chalk, though they will grow equally well without lime.

Acaena.
Acanthus.
Achillea.
Adiantum.
Ajuga.
Alchemilla.
Alyssum saxatile.
Anaphalis.
Anchusa.
Anemone.
Antennaria.
Arabis.
Armeria.
Asplenium.
Athyrium.
Aubretia.
Aucuba.
Ballota.
Berberis (except Berberis thunbergii and varieties).
Bergenia.
Brunnera macrophylla.
Caltha.
Campanula.
Cardamine.
Ceanothus.
Centaurea.
Cerastium.
Ceratostigma.
Choisya.
Cistus.
Clematis.
Convallaria.
Convolvulus.
Cornus alba.
Cotoneaster.

Cotula.
Crambe.
Crataegus.
Cyclamen.
Daphne.
Dianthus.
Dryas.
Dryopteris.
Epimedium.
Erigeron.
Erodium.
Euonymus fortunei.
Euphorbia.
Festuca.
Forsythia.
Fuchsia.
Genista hispanica.
Geranium.
Gymnocarpium.
Gypsophila.
Halimum.
Hebe.
Hedera.
Helianthemum.
Helleborus.
Hemerocallis.
Houttuynia.
Hydrangea villosa.
Hypericum.
Hyssopus.
Iris foetidissima.
Jasminum.
Juniperus.
Lamium.
Lathyrus.
Lavandula.
Liriope.
Lonicera.
Mahonia.
Nepeta.
Osmanthus.
Othonnopsis.

Paeonia.
Peltiphyllum (Darmera).
Phlomis.
Phlox.
Polygonatum.
Polygonum.
Potentilla.
Primula.
Prunus.
Pulmonaria.
Pulsatilla.
Pyracantha.
Pyrus.
Reynoutria.
Ribes.
Rodgersia.
Rosmarinus.
Rubus.
Salvia.
Sambucus.
Santolina.
Sarcooca.
Scabiosa.
Sedum.
Senecio.
Sorbaria.
Spiraea.
Stachys.
Symphoricarpos.
Symphytum.
Taxus.
Tellima.
Teucrium.
Thymus.
Vancouveria.
Viburnum.
Vinca.
Viola.
Waldsteinia.
Zauschneria.

3. Plants which tolerate clay.

Few plants establish quickly on very heavy soils over clay, though many of the following will luxuiriate in maturity, provided the area is reasonably well-drained.

Acanthus.
Aesculus.
Ajuga.
Alchemilla.
Anemone x hybrida.
Anemone tomentosa.
Aruncus.
Asarum.
Astilboides.
Aucuba.
Berberis.
Bergenia.
Brunnera.
Caltha.
Chaenomeles.
Clematis.
Convallaria.
Cornus alba.
Cornus stolonifera.
Cotoneaster.
Crataegus.
Daphne.
Epimedium.

Euonymus fortunei.
Forsythia.
Geranium.
Hedera.
Helleborus.
Hemerocallis.
Hosta.
Lamium.
Lonicera.
Mahonia.
Malus.
Peltiphyllum.
Petasites.
Phillyrea.
Polygonatum.
Polygonum.
Prunella.
Prunus.
Pyrus.
Reynoutria.
Ribes.

Rodgersia.
Rosa.
Rubus.
Salix.
Sambucus.
Sarcocca.
Sorbaria.
Spiraea.
Symphoricarpus.
Symphytum.
Telekia.
Tellima.
Trachystemon.
Vancouveria.
Viburnum.
Vinca.
Waldsteinia.

4. Plants which will grow satisfactorily in dry, shady places.

Apart from ill-drained clay, this combination of conditions is the most difficult to cope with in the garden.

* indicates those which will not tolerate lime.

Alchemilla conjuncta.
*Arctostaphylos.
Arundinaria.
Asperula.
Asplenium.
Aster macrophyllus.
Aucuba.
*Blechnum spicant.
*Camellia.
*Carex.
*Cornus canadensis.
Cyclamen.
Dryopteris filix-mas.
Duchesnea.
Epimedium.
Euphorbia robbiae.
Fatshedera.

Fragaria.
*Gaultheria shallon.
Geranium nodosum.
Hedera.
Hypericum. androsaemum.
Iris foetidissima.
*Linnaea.
Lonicera nitida.
Lonicera pileata.
Lunaria.
Mahonia.
Myrrhis.
Pachyphragma.
*Pachysandra.
Phyllostachys.
Polypodium.
Prunus laurocerausus varieties.

Reynoutria.
Ribes.
Rubus.
Sarcocca.
Skimmia.
Thalictrum.
Trachystemon.
*Vaccinium vitis-idaea.
Vancouveria.
Vinca minor.
Walsteinia.
Xanthorhiza.

5. Plants which thrive on moist soils.

Genera marked * are suitable for boggy positions.

Ajuga.
Aruncus.
*Astilbe.
Astilboides.
Athyrium.
Blechnum chilense.
*Caltha.
Clethra (no lime).
Cornus alba.

Cornus stolonifera.
Filipendula palmata.
Filipendula purpurea.
Gunnera.
Heracleum.
Houttuynia.
*Ligularia.
*Lysichitum.
Matteuccia.

*Onoclea.
Osmunda.
Peltiphyllum (Darmera).
Petasites japonicus.
*Primula florindae.
Primula various.
Ranunculus.
Rheum.
Rodgersia.
*Trollius

6. Plants which grow well in shady positions.

The bulk of these are woodland plants, growing well under shrubs and trees, but those marked * are not so satisfactory under trees, though thriving in the shade given by buildings. For those requiring lime-free soil, compare with List 1.

Adiantum.
Aegopodium.
Anemone.
*Arabis.
Arundinaria.
Asarum.
Asperula.
Asplenium.
Athyrium.
Aucuba.
*Berberis.
*Bergenia.
Blechnum.
Boykinia.
Brunnera.
Camellia.
Cardamine.

Carex.
Cassiope.
Chiastophyllum.
*Choisya.
Claytonia.
Comptonia.
Convallaria.
Cornus canadensis.
Cortusa.
Corydalis.
*Cotoneaster.
Cyathodes.
Cyclamen.
Cystopteris.
Dicentra.
Dryopteris.
Duchesnia.

Epigaea.
Epimedium.
Euonymus.
Euphorbia robbiae.
Fragaria.
*Fuchsia.
Galax.
Gaultheria.
Gaylussacia.
Geranium, most.
Gymnocarpium.
*Hebe.
Hedera.
Helleborus.

Helxine.
X Heucherella.
Hosta.
Houstonia.
Hydrangea.
Hypericum androsaemum.
Hypericum calycinum.
*Iberis sempervirens.
Iris foetidissima.
Jasminum nudiflorum.
*Jasminum others.
Juniperus x media.
Lamium.
Leucothoe.
Linnaea.
Lomaria.
Lonicera pileata.
Lunaria.
Luzula.
Lysimachia.
Mahonia.
Maianthemum.
Matteuccia.
Meconopsis.
Milium.
Mitchella.
Myrrhis.
Omphalodes.

Onoclea.
Ourisia.
Oxalis.
Pachyphragma.
Pachysandra.
Paxistima.
Patrinia.
Petasites.
Philesia.
Phyllostachys.
Pieris.
Polygonatum.
Polygonum.
Polypodium.
Polystichum.
Prunus laurocerasus.
Pseudosasa.
Pulmonaria.
Pyrola.
Rhododendron, larger-leaved kinds, it is toxic to bees and the honey from it is toxic to humans.
Ribes.
Rubus.
Sarcocca.
Saxifraga.
Schizocodon.
Selaginella.
 

Shortia.
Skimmia.
Smilacina.
*Soldanella.
Symphytum.
Tanakea.
Tellima.
Thalictrum minus.
Tiarella.
Tolmeia.
Trachystemon.
Vaccinium macrocarpum.
Vaccinium vitis-idaea.
Vancouveria.
*Viburnum davidii.
Vinca.
Viola.
Waldsteinia.
Woodwardia.

7. Plants which will thrive in hot, sunny places on dry soils.

Those marked * require lime-free soil.

Acaena.
Acantholimon.
Acanthus.
Achillea.
Alyssum.
Ampelopsis.
Antennaria.
Anthemis.
Arabis.
*Arctostaphylos.
Armeria.
Artemisia.
Aubretia.
Ballota.
Bolax.
Bupleurum.
Calamintha.
Campanula alliariifolia.
Campsis.
Ceanothus.
Centaurea.
Cerastium.
Ceratostigma.
*Chaenomeles.
Choisya.
Cissus.
Cistus.
Clematis flammula.
Clematis x jouiniana.
Convolvulus.
Coronilla.
Cotula.
Crambe.
*Cytisus.
Dianthus

Dimorphotheca.
Elaeagnus.
Elymus.
Ephedra.
Erigeron glaucus.
Erodium.
Erysimum.
Eschscholtzia.
Fascicularia.
Festuca.
Filipendula hexapetala.
Genista.
Geranium x magnificum.
Geranium renardii.
Gypsophila.
Halimocistus.
Halimium.
Hebe.
Helianthemum.
Hypericum calycinum.
Hypericum rhodopeum.
Hyssopus.
Iberis amara.
Iberis sempervirens.
Iris graminea.
*Iris innominata.
Iris japonica.
Iris ruthenica.
Jasminum parkeri.
Juniperus.
Lathyrus.
Lavandula.
Leptospermum.
Limonium.
Lupinus arboreus.

Lychnis coronaria.
Moltkia.
Muehlenbeckia.
Nepeta.
Oenothera biennis.
Ophiopogon.
Osteospermum, (see Dimporphotheca).
Othonnopsis.
Oxalis rubra.
Paronychia.
Parthenocissus.
Pennisetum.
Pterocephalus.
Ptilotrichum.
Raoulia.
Reynoutria.
Romneya.
Rosmarinus.
Ruta.
Salvia'
Santolina.
Saponaria.
Satureia.
Scabiosa graminifolia.
Sedum.
Senecio.
Silene.
Stachys olympica.
Teucrium.
Thymus.
Trachystemon.
*Vaccinium oxycoccus.
Viola labradorica.
Zauschneria.

8. Plants which thrive in maritime districts.

Many of the following will stand wind and salt-spray, particularly those marked *.

Those marked ** will provide shelter for others and shelter is highly important in seaside gardening.

For genera requiring, lime-free soil, compare with List 1.

Acaena.
Acantholimon.
Achillea.
Alchemilla.
Alyssum.
Antennaria.
Anthemis.
Arabis.
*Arctostaphylos.
*Armeria.
*Artemisia.
Arundinaria.
Asperula.
Asplenium.
Athyrium.
 

Aubretia.
*Aucuba.
*Berberis.
Bergenia.
Beschorneria.
Betula.
Blechnum.
Bolax.
Bruckenthalia.
**Bupleurum.
Calamintha.
*Calluna.
Camellia.
Campanula.
Campsis.

Ceanothus.
Centaurea.
*Cerastium.
Ceratostigma.
Choisya.
**Cistus.
Clematis.
Convolvulus.
Coprosma.
Cornus alba.
Cornus stolonifera.
Coronilla.
**Cotoneaster.
*Crambe.
**Crataegus.
*Cytisus.
*Daboecia.
*Dianthus.
*Dimorphotheca.
Dryas.
Dryopteris.
*Elaeagnus.
*Elymus.
Ephedra.
*Erica.
*Erigeron glaucus.
*Eriogonum.
*Eryngium.
Erysimum.
**Escallonia.
*Euonymus.
Euphorbia.
Fascicularia.
Festuca.
Filipendula hexapetala.
Forsythia.
*Fuchsia.
Garrya.

*Genista.
Geranium.
*Gypsophila.
Halimiocistus.
*Halimium.
**Hebe.
Hedera.
Helianthemum.
Hemerocallis.
Heuchera.
*Hydrangea.
Hypericum.
Hyssopus.
Iberis.
Ilex.
Iris.
Jasminum.
*Juniperus.
Lathyrus.
Lavandula.
*Leptospermum.
*Limonium.
Liriope.
**Lonicera.
*Lupinus arboreus.
Mahonia.
Myosotideum.
Osteospermum, (see Dimorphotheca).
*Othonnopsis.
Oxalis.
Penstemon.
Petasites fragrans.
Phlox.
Phyllostachys.
Polygonum.
Polypodium.
Polystichum.
*Potentilla.

Pulsatilla.
Pyrus.
Reynoutria.
*Romneya.
*Rosa.
*Rosmarinus.
Rubus.
Ruta.
**Salix.
Salvia.
Santolina.
Satureia.
Saxifraga.

*Sedum.
**Senecio.
Silene.
Skimmia.
Sorbaria.
Spiraea.
Stachys.
Symphoricarpus.
Teucrium.
Thymus.
Vaccinium.
Vinca.
Waldsteinia.

9. Plants which create barriers.

The following by their dense or prickly character will deter small animals and human beings as well as weeds.

Arundinaria anceps.
Berberis.
Chaenomeles.
Clematis montana.
Clethra.
Cornus alba.
Cornus stolonifera.
Cotoneaster conspicuus.
Cotoneaster conspicuus 'Decorus'.
Crataegus.
Forsythia suspensa sieboldii.
Gaultheria shallon.
Juniperus x media.
Lonicera nitida.

Mahonia japonica.
Pernettya.
Pyrus.
Rosa 'Macrantha'.
Rosa 'Max Graf'.
Rosa x paulii.
Rosa x polliniana.
Rosa 'Raubritter'.
Rosa rugosa.
Rosa virginiana.
Rosa woodsii fendleri.
Spiraea douglasii.
Spiraea menziesii.

10. Plants for town gardens.

Genera marked * prefer acid soil;

those marked £ will thrive in impoverished soils. Soil in towns is usually deficient in humus.

£Acanthus.
£Alchemilla.
Anemone.
£Asperula odorata.
£Aucuba.
£Bergenia.
Campanula.
Clematis montana.
Corydalis.
*Dicentra.
£Epimedium.

Euonymus.
£Fatshedera.
£Ferns.
£Geranium.
£Hebe.
£Hedera.
*Hosta.
Nepeta.
Parthenocissus.
Polygonatum.
£Potentilla.

Ribes.
Salix.
Saxifraga, Robertsonia section.
Spiraea.
Tellima.
£Vancouveria.
£Vinca.
Waldsteinia.

EXPLAINATION OF WHY SOIL IN UK TOWNS IS USUALLY DEFICIENT IN HUMUS.
That is because when a flower bed is weeded, then the weeds are thrown away. This means that the minerals that weed used up from the soil are also thrown away, and the soil has not received any replacement.

Humus is dark, organic material that forms in soil when plant and animal matter decays.
When plants drop leaves, twigs, and other material to the ground, it piles up. This material is called leaf litter. When animals die, their remains add to the litter. Over time, all this litter decomposes. This means it decays, or breaks down, into its most basic chemical elements. Many of these chemicals are important nutrients for the soil and organisms that depend on soil for life, such as plants. The thick brown or black substance that remains after most of the organic litter has decomposed is called humus. Earthworms often help mix humus with minerals in the soil. Humus contains many useful nutrients for healthy soil. One of the most important is nitrogen. Nitrogen is a key nutrient for most plants. Agriculture depends on nitrogen and other nutrients found in humus.When humus is in soil, the soil will crumble. Air and water move easily through the loose soil, and oxygen can reach the roots of plants. Humus can be produced naturally or through a process called composting. When people compost, they collect decaying organic material, such as food and garden scraps, that will be turned into soil.

The humus provides the organic polymers to interact with the clay domains and bacterium to stick the 2 grains of sand together. This soil molecule of 2 grains of sand, organic polymers, clay domains and bacterium will disintegrate by the action of the bacterium or fungal enymatic catalysis on the organic polymers. So if a continuous supply of humus is not present, then the soil molecules will break up into sand and clay.
Because the idiots in the UK do not know about this, this is why they weed a bed, throw away the weed, not provide anything in return and expect the soil to take care of itself.
When you go to view gardens open to the public how many times can you see bare earth between plants in a flower bed? There needs to be either a green manure or an organic mulch between the plants, so that leaf litter etc can decompose and become humus to provide the minerals and humus for the plants. That is what you see when you visit a forest where the fallen leaves, branches, animals and birds are left to their own devices, except when a newly qualified university student came to look after a local authority controlled wooded park, when she got the local population to help her and her staff to remove all the undergrowth, leaving bare earth!

Cultural Needs of Plants
from Chapter 4 in Fern Grower's Manual by Barbara Joe Hoshizaki & Robbin C. Moran. Revised and Expanded Edition. Published in 2001 by Timber Press, Inc. Reprinted 2002, 2006. ISBN-13:978-0-88192-495-4.

"Understanding Fern Needs
Ferns have the same basic growing requirements as other plants and will thrive when these are met. There is nothing mysterious about the requirements - they are not something known only to people with green thumbs - but the best gardeners are those who understand plant requirements and are careful about satisfying them.
What, then, does a fern need?
 

1. Water - All plants need water. Water in the soil prevents roots from drying, and all mineral nutrients taken up by the roots must be dissolved in the soil water. Besides water in the soil, most plants need water in the air. Adequate humidity keeps the plant from drying out. Leaves need water for photosynthesis and to keep from wilting.
2. Light - All green plants need light to manufacture food (sugars) by photosynthesis. Some plants need more light than others, and some can flourish in sun or shade. Most ferns, however, prefer some amount of shade.
3. Photosynthesis - For photosynthesis, plants require carbon dioxide, a gas that is exhaled by animals as waste. Carbon dioxide diffuses into plants through tiny pores, called stomata, that abound on the lower surface of the leaves. In the leaf, carbon dioxide is combined with the hydrogen from water to form carbohydrates, the plant's food. This process takes place only in the presence of light and chlorophyll, a green pigment found in plant cells. To enhance growth, some commercial growers increase the carbon dioxide level in their greenhouses to 600ppm (parts per million), or twice the amount typically found in the air.
4. Oxygen - Plants need oxygen. The green plants of a plant do not require much oxygen from the air because plants produce more oxygen by photosynthesis than they use. The excess oxygen liberated from the plants is used by all animals, including humans. What do plants do with oxygen? They use it just as we do, to release the energy stored in food. We use energy to move about, to talk, to grow, to think - in fact, for all our life processes. Although plants don't talk or move much, they do grow and metabolize and must carry on all their life processes using oxygen to release the stored energy in their food.
5. Air with roots - Roots need air all the time. They get it from the air spaces between the soil particles. Overwatering displaces the air between soil particles with water, thereby removing the oxygen needed by the roots. This reduces the root's ability to absorb mineral nutrients and can foster root-rot. These gases need free access to the roots:-
   • Nitrogen Cycle -
     Nitrogen is the most commonly limiting nutrient in plants. Legumes use nitrogen fixing bacteria, specifically symbiotic rhizobia bacteria, within their root nodules to counter the limitation. Rhizobia bacteria fix nitrogen which is then converted to ammonia. Ammonia is then assimilated into nucleotides, Amino Acids, vitamins and flavones which are essential to the growth of the plant. The plant root cells convert sugar into organic acids which then supply to the rhizobia in exchange, hence a symbiotic relationship between rhizobia and the legumes.
   • Oxygen Cycle -
     No nutrient absorption occurs at the root zone unless oxygen is present.
   • Carbon Dioxide -
     Plant roots uptake carbon dioxide to provide carbon for parts of the foliage.
6. Minerals - Plants need minerals to grow properly. The minerals are mined from the soil by the plant's root system. If a certain mineral is missing, such as calcium needed for developing cell walls, then the plant will be stunted, discoloured, or deformed.
7. Temperature - Some plants tolerate a wide range of temperatures, whereas others are fussy. If the temperature is too high or low, the machinery of the plant will not operate satisfactorily or will cease entirely.
   
   The basic needs of plants are not hard to supply, but growing success depends on attending to these needs with care and exactitude. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to a discussion of these requirements, with the exception of mineral needs, which are discussed in Chapter 5."

Only Earthworms provide the tunnels which transport water, gas and nutrients to and from roots.

When the roots of the plant requires the mineral nutrients dissolved in soil water, oxygen and nitrogen intake and waste gases output, it gets it through the action of the earthworm continously making tunnels to provide the transport system.
6000 species of Earthworm have no special respiratory organs. Gases are exchanged through the moist skin and capillaries, where the oxygen is picked up by the hemoglobin dissolved in the blood plasma and carbon dioxide is released. Water, as well as salts, can also be moved through the skin by active transport.
When the earthworms are denied access to the air above ground as in the case of pavements, driveways and patios; then they die and the system round them dies as well. Since the roots are not getting their requirements; then they also die off, and you are left with insufficient live root to support the tree or other plants.

11. Plants suitable for covering rose-beds.

The following are all small plants that will not be strong-growing for the purpose, and will help to make the beds more attractive during the 7 months when Hybrid Teas and Floribundas are not in flower. Small spring-flowering bulbs can be grown through them. The more vigorous shrub roses will tolerate many others among the shorter growing plants in this 1000 ground cover table.

Acaena.
Alyssum saxatile.
Arabis.
Aubretia.
Campanula carpatica.
Campanula portenschlagiana.

Cardamine trifolia.
Corydalis lutea.
Corydalis ochroleuca.
Dianthus.
Lysimachia nummularia.
Phlox subulata.

Primula auricula.
Primula vulgaris sibthorpii.
Pulsatilla.
Saponaria ocymoides.
Saxifraga.
Viola.

There are 180 families in the Wildflowers of the UK and they have been split up into 22 Galleries to allow space for up to 100 plants per gallery.

Each plant named in each of the Wildflower Family Pages may have a link to:-

its Plant Description Page in its Common Name in one of those Wildflower Plant Galleries and will have links

to external sites to purchase the plant or seed in its Botanical Name,

to see photos in its Flowering Months and

to read habitat details in its Habitat Column.

It is worth remembering that especially with roses that the colour of the petals of the flower may change - The following photos are of Rosa 'Lincolnshire Poacher' which I took on the same day in R.V. Roger's Nursery Field:-

Closed Bud

Opening Bud

Juvenile Flower

Older Juvenile Flower

Middle-aged Flower - Flower Colour in Season in its
Rose Description Page is
"Buff Yellow, with a very slight pink tint at the edges in May-October."

Mature Flower

Juvenile Flower and Dying Flower

Form of Rose Bush

There are 720 roses in the Rose Galleries; many of which have the above series of pictures in their respective Rose Description Page.

So one might avoid the disappointment that the 2 elephants had when their trunks were entwined instead of them each carrying their trunk using their own trunk, and your disappointment of buying a rose to discover that the colour you bought it for is only the case when it has its juvenile flowers; if you look at all the photos of the roses in the respective Rose Description Page!!!!

Plant Selection by Flower Colour

Blue Flowers

Bedding.
Bulb.
Climber.
Evergr Per.
Evergr Shrub.
Wild Flower.
 

Orange Flowers

Bedding.
Wild Flower.

Other Colour Flowers

Bedding.
Bulb.
Climber.
Evergr Per.
Evergr Shrub.
Wild Flower.

Red Flowers

Bedding.
Bulb.
Climber.
Decid Shrub.
Evergr Per.
Evergr Shrub.
Herbac Per.
Rose.
Wild Flower.

White Flowers

Bedding.
Bulb.
Climber.
Decid Shrub.
Decid Tree.
Evergr Per.
Evergr Shrub.
Herbac Per.
Rose.
Wild Flower.
 

Yellow Flowers

Bedding.
Bulb.
Climber.
Decid Shrub.
Evergr Per.
Evergr Shrub.
Herbac Per.
Rose.
Wild Flower.
 

Fragrant Plants adds the use of another of your 5 senses in your garden:-
Sense of Fragrance from Roy Genders

Fragrant Plants:-
Trees and Shrubs with Scented Flowers.

Trees and Shrubs with Scented Leaves.

Trees and Shrubs with Aromatic Bark.

Shrubs bearing Scented Flowers for an
Acid Soil.

Shrubs bearing Scented Flowers for a
Chalky or Limestone Soil.

Shrubs bearing Scented leaves for a
Sandy Soil.

Herbaceous Plants with Scented Flowers.

Herbaceous Plants with Scented Leaves.

Annual and Biennial Plants with Scented Flowers or Leaves.

Bulbs and Corms with Scented Flowers.

Scented Plants of Climbing and Trailing Habit.

Winter-flowering Plants with Scented Flowers.

Night-scented Flowering Plants.

Scented Aquatic Plants.

Plants with Scented Fruits.

Plants with Scented Roots.

Trees and Shrubs with Scented Wood.

Trees and Shrubs with Scented Gums.

Scented Cacti and Succulents.

Plants bearing Flowers or Leaves of Unpleasant Smell.
 

Flower Perfume Group:-

Indoloid Group.

Aminoid Group with scent - Hawthorn.

Heavy Group with scents -
Jonquil and
Lily.

Aromatic Group with scents - Almond,
Aniseed, Balsamic,
Carnation, Cinnamon, Clove,
Spicy and
Vanilla.

Violet Group.

Rose Group.

Lemon Group with scent -
Verbena.

Fruit-scented Group with scents -
Apricot,
Fruity,
Green Apple,
Orange, Pineapple,
Ripe Apple , Ripe Banana and
Ripe Plum.

Animal-scented Group with scents -
Cat,
Dog,
Ferret,
Fox,
Goat,
Human Perspiration,
Musk,
Ripe Apple and
Tom Cat.

Honey Group.

Unpleasant Smell Group with scents -
Animal,
Fetid,
Fishy,
Foxy,
Fur-like,
Garlic,
Hemlock,
Manure,
Nauseating,
Perspiration,
Petrol,
Putrid,
Rancid,
Sickly,
Skunk,
Stale Lint,
Sulphur and
Urinous.

Miscellaneous Group with scents -
Balm,
Brandy,
Cedar,
Cloying,
Cowslip,
Cucumber,
Damask Rose, Daphne,
Exotic,
Freesia,
Fur-like,
Gardenia,
Hay-like,
Heliotrope, Honeysuckle,
Hops,
Hyacinth,
Incense-like, Jasmine,
Laburnham,
Lilac,
Lily of the Valley, Meadowsweet, Mignonette,
Mint,
Mossy,
Muscat,
Muscatel,
Myrtle-like,
Newly Mown Hay, Nutmeg,
Piercing,
Primrose,
Pungent,
Resinous, Sandalwood, Sassafras,
Seductive,
Slight,
Soft,
Stephanotis,
Sulphur,
Starch,
Sweet,
Sweet-briar,
Tea-rose,
Treacle and
Very Sweet.