Gardens Galore by Karen Brewka

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Groundcovers to Love and Hate

Bordering my most successful flowerbeds are rounded mounds of purple and blue interspersed with drifts of white. Groundcovers fill in space, cover ground (hence: groundcovers) and give us, if chosen carefully, a whole lot of low maintenance space. Groundcovers are excellent for borders and to fill in space among younger perennials. Grass is the ultimate groundcover, but hopefully is not growing in our flowerbeds.

Groundcovers to Love:

 Windflower Anemone – about 12 inches in height, big white flowers, spreads thickly and slowly enough to love. Blooms late spring to mid-summer, and sometimes again in the fall.

 Forget-me-not – biennial (sow seeds two years in a row to get them started). Self-seeding, small blue flowers from mid- spring to mid- summer, about 8 to 10 inches high. They grow all over the place and now are mounding up beside purple and yellow flowering lamium.

 Lamium- lots of kinds to choose from with different flower and leaf colours and patterns. The purple flowering lamium is quite aggressive but can easily be controlled just by pulling up the unwanted plants.

 Canada Violet – native, white flowering violet about 8 – 10 inches tall. Beautiful, competitive in shade, spreads thickly and at a sedate rate. Blooms mid-spring to mid-summer.
Right now, the combinations of lamium, forget-me-not, anemone and Canada violet at bed edge are spectacular. They provide colour while the later blooming, taller flowers grow behind them.

Groundcovers to Hate:
 Bishop's Goutweed- this tall white and green leaved monster would probably thrive in an underground car park. Perfect for a 'hard to grow anything' spot, as long as it can be hemmed in by deep cement barriers.

Mint - lots of different kinds, some harder to grow than others. Regular, old fashioned mint is a tall, rangy, vigorous monster that needs the concrete barriers as much as the goutweed does.

Everyone has different opinions about the virtues and vices of different groundcovers. I love the ones that give us flowers and texture and are easy to grow, but not too aggressive. I deeply respect the vigorous and aggressive groundcovers that will grow where no plant has grown before.

The Valley Neighbors Garden Club welcomes new members. For information call Bea at 403–933–7131.

The Horticultural Club meets every second Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm. For information call Sheila at 403–931–3989.