I have a fence like that and I REALLY wish it bloomed longer. Love it! Jellybobelly, sadly the blooming only lasts a few weeks. Although it is an attractive vine all the time (also used as groundcover). Scogebear, I have a section of fence, 8 feet long, 6 feet high, covered in this stuff. There is a gate on one side and the house on the other so it cannot creep down the fence any further. Once in a great while I trim it if it tries to go up to where the cable goes into the house, but I would not say it is difficult to keep in check. That is the only trimming I do.

Hi Bill, Just wanted to report back after my visit to UF at Gainesville. First off, I wanted to say there was a very large slope by a building that had a huge area of the asiatic jasmine. It was in full sun and looked great. The only thing I noticed that was not that great was that the area was so wide it could not be reached for maintenance from either side. Therefore, the long strands were visible in the central, unreachable portion, and it looked a little unkempt. So, I guess the moral of that story is to make sure it can be reached by a weedwhacker and an edger from both sides if you want to achieve a neat and tidy appearance. A ground cover I had not thought of is dwarf Indian Hawthorne. I saw it in so many places in full sun, no care and it looked great. Although when I looked it up it said it got to 3-6 feet, I didn't see any that were higher than about two. Maybe there are newer types. Most seemed to be lower than that. I have a friend who has it here in Sarasota, and hers is about two foot. I know she doesn't prune it or do anything to it and it always looks great and blooms in the spring. I know it is higher than your criteria, but I saw so much of it that looked good, that I thought it would be worth mentioning. I will mention another, although again, it probably doesn't meet your criteria. Wart fern as a ground cover is beautiful and carefree, maybe a foot tall or a tiny more. However, I think it does best in partial shade. I am experimenting with it this year in my garden and it is doing well and starting to spread a bit in half day sun. However, it gets late morning, early afternoon, hot direct sun. Shaded in morning and late afternoon. I have to tell you where I am coming from. I know you are looking for visibility from the street. My DH and I are the opposite. We frequently are in the garden in our pajamas, or, in his case, a lot less! It is essential to us that we have as much privacy as possible from the street as well as all our neighbors. The first thing we did with our landcaping when we moved here (even before) was start screening in a big way. I can report that he is now able to shower outside or skinny dip in the pool after yardwork as needed. Feeling like I'm outdoors most of the day is almost essential to me. Our home has many very large windows and no window treatments! This also makes it essential to have great screening from all angles. Although I've got to say I really don't care much if someone wants to see an old lady in her pajamas through the windows at night. Although we like our yard to look nice from the street, we absolutely have to have it look nice when we look out. My viewpoint from the inside is what I work on all the time. I just wanted to mention that I saw so many lovely, lovely vitex in bloom at UF. There were groupings with firebush (the yellow, shorter type) and coonties that were just stunning. However, some of the vitex reached 10 feet or so. A plant I had forgotten about that I absolutely love is oakleaf hydrangea. It was not in bloom, but the foliage is so lovely on its own. I didn't know thryallis did so well up there. Crinums and European Fan Palms were absolutely beautiful. I really like that picture #7. It is lovely and sort of what I had envisioned with the sabals, coontie, palms, etc. However, having had experience with saw palmetto, I would never plant it unless I knew it was going to be a permanent planting (although I love its look). We had a lot at another property, and tried to dig up some of it to plant something else. It involves a bobcat or backhoe. Definitely not a drainfield candidate, I don't think. I love the silvery one like in the picture, though. Well, that's all I've got. Good luck, and whatever you do, let us know. I also love sunworshiper's fountain idea, or even a hardscape with an umbrella, a table and chair for an afternoon beverage. Have fun! Anna

Hi All - First posting here. I stumbled in here, after searching for info on ground cover that grows rapidly and vertically. I live in the Metro Atlanta area, specifically about 30 minutes SW of the airport in Newnan. Our lot slopes up from the street, and our back yard has always been nearly non-existent. It went back maybe 10-15 feet, was uneven, and full of rocks. I had someone come in and do some grading to get a fairly flat surface, and 15-20 feet from the back of the house, so we could actually use part of the back yard. One spot was used to put a cheap pool (You can see it's still filling in the pic). Grading is a lot cheaper than building retaining walls, so that's not in my plan, at least not for a year or two. What I want to do is find something that I can plant at the base of this vertical slope (the loose dirt will be removed), and have it grow up the slope vertically, and hopefully root into it as it grows, to aid in holding it in place. Ultimately, I'd like it to continue to the upper part which has always been weeds, and cover that, choking out the unattractive weeds, and making it more maintenance free. It sounds like Confederate Jasmine may be what I'm looking for. As you can see in the picture, I am surrounded by hard, compacted clay, and to make it more fun, it's probably the rockiest soil I've seen here, and I've been in this area most of my life. How long do you think it would take Confederate Jasmine to grow to the top of the bare area (maybe 7' at the corner peak)? This area is in full Sun from maybe 11AM till just about dusk each day. Would it grow straight up, or would it fan out and grow up and out at the same pace? Should I plant it just at the base? How far apart should I plant it, and how is Confederate Jasmine sold? Thanks in advance!

I love my Confederate Jasmine! Evergreen, colorful in the fall and the scented white flowers! I also appreciate the sprawling shape. However, I have lost 1 and had dieback repeatedly on mine here in zone 8a due to winter cold, so I'm afraid they will not survive in your area in your yard unless perhaps you have a really protected place for them. Brandy