Veronica 'Georgia Blue' plays well with others, stays neat even when not blooming and grows from mostly shade to full sun.
Cranberry the same, but it wants acid soil (doesn't need to be wetter than average.)

I like hardy geraniums, especially the low spreading kinds, as groundcovers for both roses and clematis. And since the geraniums seem to share a similar color palette with many of the clematis, it's pretty easy to find complimentary choices.

I have soapwort planted at the base of my sweet autumn clematis. the soapwort flowers beautifully in the spring and eary summer when the clematis is still growing and green, then is a nice dense green when the hot summer days come, keeping the sweet autumn's feet nice and cool. It stays a lovely green all through the clematis growing season.

I've seen soapwort in one of my gardening magazines and thought it was so pretty. Does it spread a lot? Can it be divided easiliy and successful? I planted purple alyssum by base of my new clematis that I planted this Spring. Not much growth on new clematis, and the alyssum fills in nicely but not a lot of color like I thought it would be. Did you start the soapworth from seeds or purchased a starter plant from a nursery or garden center? Is soapworth perennial or annual?

I ended up taking nhbabs suggestion and went with the Veronica 'Georgia Blue.' I planted it in early August, and the plants seem to be thriving. However, it hasn't really shown much in the way spreading yet. Does it take awhile for it to start branching out?

Right now it's probably growing roots and settling in. Next year it will fill out and begin to spread and will probably take off the following year.

I will just be patient. I had never heard of this plant before, but there are some awesome pictures of it online.

Here's my Veronica 'Georgia Blue.', which grows in mostly shade, in its third or fourth year from a single 1 quart pot.
{{gwi:202703}}From May, 2011

I like it enough that this year I got a couple other pots of it for other gardens.

Could try any of the Deadnettle cultivars (Lamium sp).....

Campanula dicksons gold

the soapwort I have, I purchased as a small plant in a nursery. It does indeed spread very quickly. though it does like the sun and will "reach" towards it if it's not getting enough. it is a profuse flowering ground cover. it is literally covered with gorgeous, small, candy pink flowers. and like I said, when blooms are done it stays green and lush. it is almost September and my sweet autumn is blooming out and the soapwort is thick and green. there may be other choices that bloom longer though. I have never tried to separate it, so I don't know how that would work. sorry

babs, i too love that veronica repens. i use it on the walls of our 'chasm' to hold the soil. i love it when it blooms. great suggestion.

uncle, I forgot to say that sweet woodruff was a destructive plant in one of my dry shade beds. I have tried to eliminate it. good choice you made w/ the GA. Blue!