Well, veronica spicata 'georgia blue' is true deep blue and stunning right now, but it'll finish blooming in a few weeks. It's attractive and evergreen, as are all of these, except as noted. Thrift (phlox) has purple blue tones and blooms about the same time. I don't know of any one plant that will bloom for that long- perhaps if you gear towards purple homestead purple verbena, it will meet your needs? It does bloom a very long time, but it's a deep intense purple- not blue at all. For a true blue that blooms in fall, consider plumbago (the perennial ground cover, not the annual). It isn't evergreen, but does get great burgundy tones to the foliage come fall. I'd probably plant a mixture of things- that will give you a multi-toned tapestry effect and extend your color range and bloom time by quite a lot. Plus if disease runs thru, it won't take out the whole bed.

Thank you for your reply. I am, after further thought, beginning to see a fuller richer picture of what I would like to eventually have in this area. A mix of colors would be best with height, foliage and bloom time variations. There are already a couple of evergreen junipers and small euonymus shrubs. There are two yuccas that are probably going to go away.

So I think I'm going to plan a mixed perennial bed instead of a large area of ground cover.

This area is about 50' long and 15' high so I have plenty of room to create a showy display!

A visit to local gardens for inspiration might be what I need!

Thank you!

Yuccas are a lot harder to make go away than you think..and not just because of the thorn tipped leaves.
I have cut down my patch to almost a foot below surface level only to have them sprout and come back up a few months later.

I second the yucca problem. They have deep, thick roots. If you can get all the roots out, you'll be ok. It takes a long time, though- be prepared to starve them by yanking every sprout that shows up after you've dug them out thoroughly!

If you're going to do a mixed bed, the best way is to plan every week or 2 to go to a garden ctr and buy a few blooming plants that are full sun. If you do this the whole season, you'll automatically have a well balanced bloom season. Of course, you'll still need to pay attention to sizes, etc when planting. You may want to only plant the spring ones and hold the summer pots til fall unless you can keep on top of watering in the heat. It's a lot easier to water a clustered pot ghetto than a whole bed. You could also plan your completed bed easier that way- mark where you want to put them (with final girth) on a piece of graph paper that has the bed drawn on it you keep updating through the summer as you buy more plants. Come fall, you'll have your plants and plan!

Thank you for the heads up on the Yucca! I think I'll dig down around the roots and water it to loosen the soil then attack it with my maddock, chainsaw (!?) and when all else fails a tow rope to the Ford F-150! Then I'll decide the other one isn't so bad after all!! LOL :)

I do plan on doing a landscape design on paper. Researching the bloom times, size, spread and color compatibility of plants I'd like in the area.

I like the look of a low growing border on the edge cascading over the rocks that line the bed. I was considering Thymus wolly with lavender right behind that all along the bottom perimeter. Some Asters growing low in the curves at top and bottom with Echinacea + Russian Sage and other lavendula in the center areas for some height and awesome color. I also like phlox. Maybe some ice plant, delosperma or portulaca to fill in here and there. And I've loved bronze flax forever for it's beautiful foliage and height.

I'd like it to be fairly maintenance free. Not fussy picky plants. This soil is red clay and gets full sun. So I need hardy, bullet proof plant choices.

On the opposite side of this sloped planter bed at the house's foundation is a smaller planting bed that has two existing daylilys. It is shaded by the house some of the day. I'd like to fill it in with agapanthus, clivia miniata, begonia or something that will be a little more formal and less wild if that makes sense?

So many decisions!! Any and all suggestions will be much appreciated!

Happy Gardening :) Mary

Hi Mary and welcome!

For an ever-blooming, cascading ground cover, look for perennial heliotrope (heliotropium amplexicaule 'Azure Skies' in the Southern Living® Collection). Last year, I saw it at Lowe's. It's a lavender color, not blue, but it doesn't quit. Not evergreen, but cut away the dead foliage and the green basal leaves show up very early in spring. There's not a critter around that will eat it!

I also grow ice plant and it blooms in spring, then has evergreen, succulent foliage. Needs well-drained soil and full sun.

Lavender will need well-drained soil, too. Add some small, sharp gravel to a good soil mix and plant it on a small mound, higher than the clay soil. You can probably get 3-5 years out of a lavender here before having to replace it. Lavender will need a trim before Halloween or at Valentine's Day, and again after they bloom to keep the foliage soft to bloom and not woody. 'Grosso' is a good variety.

Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: Six Months of Bloom (my heliotrope story)

I'd suggest you build up instead of messing in the clay... it'll help all the plants and the 2 will eventually get worked together some by the worms. Truckloads of compost from the city are surprisingly cheap. Lavendar would be happy happy in that.

If you want the perennial heliotrope, i have tons of it. Come to the raleigh swap and i'll bring ya some. I can bring some aromatic aster as well, but it is a thug- likes to spread. Gets to about 3' when blooming.

Oddly, though they go deep and will probably be as big around as your arm, the yucca roots can be sort of brittle, so if you pull them out with a tractor or car, they'll be sure to break. Just get the main plant out of the way then plan to dig (when the soils' medium moist) to get the rest of the chunks out. When you spot something sprouting, you know you missed a chunk of root. It took me about 5 yrs before they stopped coming up where they'd been originally and i'd gotten all of the pieces out. So plan to plant something that doesn't mind disturbed there or it won't be happy.

Good luck & post pix!

Thanks for the tips. Not looking forward to the upcoming battle with the Yucca!

I'll check into getting compost from the city. Will I need to till it in?

When is the swap? Looking forward to that. Though I'm new here and have nothing to "swap" but weeds and dandelions!

Here are photos I just took of the space we are discussing. We're not done edging with the rocks (got pooped out hula hoeing and raking and hauling rocks) but we plan on ending the bed where the last shrub on the end is.

Thanks so much!

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden bed

You know, that's a really compact clump of yucca- instead of fighting it, why not use it along with the cedar and other shrub as winter backbone? They do have nice fragrant white blooms in summer. If it were spread out or a huge clump, i'd fuss with it, but if you're wanting to make life simple... leave it be.

I'd say it depends on the compost whether you till it in. If it seems like it has a good bit of earthy stuff for the plants to dig into, then no, but if it's more top dressing stuff, perhaps till in half and top with compost. The quality can vary year to year and by the time of year, depending on what they are shredding and composting. If you're in wake co, you will need to find a truck/hauler to haul it for you, but the compost itself is fairly cheap- like 30 a big truckload full. City runs 2 for 1 specials sometimes, too. Meaning pay for 1 load, get the second free that same day- but you'd still need to pay for hauling. You could do a lasagna type bed- layer on newspaper, ect, and build up with out messing with tilling at all. There's been a good bit posted about it, and there are at least 2 books. It really does work if you have a little patience/time.

There is a thread for the swap on the exchanges forum. It should have the where what when info- tho i can tell you quickly it's may 8th, at white deer park in garner. Doesn't matter if you're a newb. We always have some. Just bring some good food and anything you have to spare that you think gardeners could use- pots, hoses, rocks, etc. Even shallow boxes would be appreciated as folks always need them to haul away their new found goodies.

I'd like it to be fairly maintenance free. Not fussy picky plants. This soil is red clay and gets full sun. So I need hardy, bullet proof plant choices.

I agree with Tamelask, perhaps you should consider keeping the yucca because it certainly fits your criteria. And the blooms are really very pretty (and it's evergreen, something to consider). Try cleaning up the dead foliage on it and then re-evaluate how it looks.

At last, esh_ga and I have something on which we can agree. Definitely keep the yucca. It has many fine attributes, too numerous to mention. And it is native to the Southeastern and Gulf coasts.

Blue-flowered, tough, hardy plants are uncommon. You really cannot beat the tried-and-true _Vinca major_ and _Vinca minor_. They bloom in the springtime and are blue-flowered. The rest of the year, they are an evergreen groundcover. There are a few cultivars in various different blue-related shades, and there is a truly lovely white-flowered form of _Vinca minor_. No doubt, esh-ga will consider these plants invasive. They do tend to spread and cover a wide area. However, some famous British gardener wisely said that one has to be ruthless in the garden. Was it Vita Sackville-West?

Don't plant vinca. It's invasive and overused.

There are PLENTY of blue flowering, tough, hardy plants.

Try Nepeta (catmint), Phlox, Iris, Salvia, Ajuga, Agastache, Penstemon, Campanula, Aubrieta, Perovskia, Erynigium, Lithodora, Baptisia, Echinops, Ceratostigma, Scutellaria, etc.

You might have to amend the soil for some of these, but you really ought to do that anyway.

My nepeta is in clay and blooms nonstop from May until September. Definitely a winner...hummingbirds like it too.

Vinca is a horrible suggestion.

Thank you for the replies and great planting suggestions!

Saturday, we put weed & feed on the lawn, transplanted two euonymus, finished hoeing the weeds, cleaned the old dead parts off the yuccas and completed the rock border in the planting bed! Whew :)

Sunday, I went to the flea market and a super nice gal was selling seeds. I bought zinnas, cosmos, and two types of marigolds!

I am going to get a catmint and check out some of the other suggestions and see what is available at the garden center near where I live.

If I can find some nice rocks I want to create a small rock stream bed in one area that seems to be a natural runoff as it is.

Creating this garden is a lot of fun and I appreciate everyone's help and suggestions!

Thank you :)