Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

There are lots of shady native plants that would make great groundcovers. To find these plants start first with a creating a list of native plants for your area. Take a look at the Native Plant Database on the www.wildflower.org website and put in the following search criteria: State = North Carolina, habit = herb (for herbaceous), duration = perennial, light requirement = shade, soil moisture = moist.  Then select the height you desire. Most groundcovers are in the 0-1 foot category but there are some nice taller plants that will work too. This will generate a list of herbaceous plants.

Some herbaceous perennial native plants that perhaps would work as groundcovers are:

Galium triflorum (Fragrant bedstraw)  

Fragrant bedstraw is a trailling perennial that crawls along the ground or over other plants, sometimes reaching 4 ft. in length. Its leaves are broader that most Galiums and arranged in whorls of six. The tiny, star-like flowers are greenish-white and in groups of three at the ends of the stems. Sweet scented.

Pachysandra procumbens (Allegheny spurge)

Mountain spurge or Allegheny spurge is a low perennial, spreading with long rhizomes. Toothed leaves crowd near the top of somewhat fleshy, 6 in., erect stems. Fragrant, white flowers cluster in a spike, the many staminate flowers above, the few pistillate flowers below. Leaves and stems are evergreen. Once the new shoots mature, the previous season’s growth disappears. Leaves have scalloped margins and are marbled with silver and purple.

Mountain Spurge is an excellent ground cover for shady areas. It is considered more attractive than the over-used, Asiatic Pachysandra terminalis. The native species grows slowly and will not take over like P. terminalis.

Phlox stolonifera (Creeping phlox)

Creeping phlox is a mat-forming perennial with loose mats of semi-evergreen foliage and erect clusters of large flowers. The showy blossoms are lavender, blue or white with an eye of purple-red tinged in white. The leaves of this 6-10 in. plant are round or spoon-shaped.

Phylla nodiflora (Texas frogfruit) (for part shade)

Texas Frogfruit can be used as an excellent ground cover and is evergreen in warm years. It is also evergreen in areas protected from frost. It spreads vigorously. Frogfruit generally is a good nectar plant for butterflies. It is an attractive plant rambling over boulders or the edges of hanging baskets. It also can tolerate drought and flooding. Tolerates drought and flooding. Will go dormant during hard winters.

Chrysogonum virginianum (Green and gold) (for part shade)

A showy plant with yellow, daisy-like flower heads on very hairy stems. Green-and-Gold is a perennial herb with opposite, oval, hairy leaves and clusters of star-shaped yellow flowers blooming for long periods atop the tight clump of foliage. It is a highly variable species: the northern variety is taller and more upright; the southern one prostrate and creeping.

Each flower head resembles a yellow or golden star, and the stems have distinctive spreading, glandular hairs. It is the only species in this genus.

Can be used as a groundcover if thickly planted. Some varieties will spread very rapidly from seeds, stolons, runners and expansion of the clumps. Blooms sporadically over a long period; peak bloom period is in May. Plants seems to grow better if neglected than if pampered. Seems to benefit from being divided or transplanted at least every other year. Very adaptable (though will not stand full shade), tolerating both flood and drought.

And also you might consider … Viola walteri (Walter’s violet), Tiarella cordifolia var. collina (Heartleaf foamflower), Sanguinaria canadenesis (Bloodroot), Phlox divaricata (Wild blue phlox), Mitchella repens (partridgeberry), Hexastylis shuttleworthii var. shuttleworthii (Largeflower heartleaf), Hepatica nobilis var. obtusa (Roundlobe hepatica), Hexastylis arifolia (Little brown jug), Clintonia borealis (Bluebeard), Asarum canadense (Canadian wild ginger).

You can also use the North Carolina Native Plant Society website. They have a pull down menu that will let you select a list of perennial shrubby groundcovers.

Neither the www.wildflower.org or the www.ncwildflower.org websites have information that rates the “foot traffic tolerance” of groundcovers. For this you will have to look online. The ability to tolerate foot traffic severely limits that number of native groundcover plants that are available and perhaps to avoid limiting the list of plants to be used, stepping stones can be used instead.

The NC State University suggests that Chrysogonum virginianum tolerates limited foot traffic. Needs well-drained soil; native; tolerates limited foot traffic; a North Carolina native which looks equally at home in the flower garden and the deciduous woods.