Native Plants

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Wednesday - August 19, 2009

From: Houston, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Groundcovers
Title: Groundcover called Jumping Jacks
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

My neighbor has a beautiful ground cover and she doesn't know the name and I have searched the nurseries and internet and can not find it. She says it spreads like crazy and when she was young they called it Jumping Jacks. I think she is originally from Ohio. It is viney and can crawl over rocks. It puts out a tiny white flower with a blue/purple cross in the middle. What is it?

ANSWER:

Mr. Smarty Plants found one low-growing flower called Jumping Jack Viola , or Johnny-Jump-Up. It is a European native but is used extensively in gardens in North America. There are several versions of it: a maroon version and a yellow version, pale lavender, orange, pure white, white and purple, and white with purple markings. There are even more different varieties that you can find by searching Google images using its botanical name.