Anna, it sounds like you've tried almost everything! Thanks for the list, I think I'll give the dwarf chenille a try. I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions, just a warning: stay far, far away from creeping tibouchina. It's beautiful, takes care of itself, but it's a monster. I bought a pot and set it under a tree and forgot it. That was about 6 years ago...it suddenly appeared about 100 feet away, and it's now huge and I cant' get rid of it!
Im assuming you've tried liriope...very pedestrian, but it works well.

you are missing here the wonderful ice plant, Aptenia cordifolia. the yellow one, in particular, makes a very nice, dense, zero-maintenance, no-water groundcover... i just don't know yet how it will perform in zone 9 winter...

(that's after 6 mos growth, fall a small cutting)
and a closeup

i'm bringing lots of cuttings to the orlando swap... easy-peasy to start. interested?

For me, the ice plant works great all year. I have the pink too and even got a small piece of one with variegated leaf with a pink flower.

I do use the Spanish shawl (tibouchina), but I take a hedge clipper to it. I love the flowers, but it will die back with a frost. But it returns quickly.

I'll try the dwarf chenile again, but it didn't work well in the past. It just died out.

What about birdsnest sansiveria? They do spread, but not too quickly so far and I have a couple with variegated leaves.

I just remembered a fern, button fern, short about 8 to 10 inches tall and it will take some sun.

Maryanndoln, I do have some liriope which I like very much, in one area of my yard.

Ill, I looked for the pink one last spring (yellow is not great in my garden), and saw it one day but didn't have time to get it. I went back, and it was gone. Need to look for it again. Thanks for reminding me. Weekends are hard for me to get away unless it is close. We travel a lot to basketball games, so I miss out on a lot of cool swaps unless they are close and the timing is good.

Katkin, I do have the bird's nest sansevieria, just forgot! A generous trader gave me five last winter or spring and it is slow, but starting to grow a bit. I think I will really like this one. I'm not familiar with the button fern, but will keep an eye out for it. Thanks.

Anna

I've had good luck with creeping fig, algerian & english ivy, and dwarf phlox - low-growing, heat & drought tolerant and flowers in spring. Also dwarf liriope interplanted with rain lilies is nice. The foliage of the lilies blends in with the liriope and after rainy weather you get the flowers that self seed.

Joycrick, I love that idea of the rain lilies with the lirope. I'll have to try it.

Another fern is a crinkly leafed one I belive is FL fern. It is also about a foot tall. It also takes sun. When I go to HD I always look at the table of small plants from Exotic Angels. I get some good bargins there.

I just got a trailing begonia called U002 from a grower in New Port Richey. He says it will make a nice ground cover, just amend the soil. It seems to be growing nicely but it's only been in a month so the jury is still out.

I have found the bird's nest does much better as an indoor potted plant than as a ground cover. They seem to spread verrry slowy outdoors but do great potted as a houseplant. It may be that I did not have them in the right place in the ground at the old house or maybe I am to far north but I have a bunch and just split them, pot them, and give them away as gifts or trades. I am going to bring some to the October swap but maybe I will re-think them as a ground cover in my new yard.

hey anna, once the weather cools I have plenty of the red/pink aptenia to share with you. I can mail you some when our temps drop below a gazillion degrees hot, out there! LOL Just email me if you are interested.

I've had great luck with mondo grass and there's even a thin leafed variegated mondo grass. You could also try cast iron plants. The cultivar Milky Way is spotted and doesn't get as tall as the solid green ones. Then there's vinca major and tri-color oyster plant. The tri-color variety doesn't seem to be as aggressive a spreader as the regular oyster plants. And there's always purple queen.

Here is a link that might be useful: tri-color oyster

Joycrick, I also love the creeping phlox, but it dies back so quickly in the spring for me. Seems to be gone most of the year, but sure is pretty when it's around.

Barb, I'd love to see a picture of the begonia if it is hardy in our zone. I have a thing for begonias in the landscape.

gardencpa, are you talking about bird's nest ferns? Mine don't spread ever. I love the way they look in the yard, tho. Foliage plants have always been my favs.

Cindee, I'd love some pink aptenia when you are up for it. I'm sure I can find something to trade.

Karalynn, I have two small clumps of the tri-color oyster plant, and I like it pretty well so far. Is not re-seeding. I've been meaning to try mondo grass. Isn't it real slow to fill in tho? Don't you have to buy a bunch to do even a smallish area?

I also forgot to mention that I tried a little hemigraphis around a couple of areas around my pond. It has gotten too much sun, and looks best in the shadier areas, but it has been pretty also. Grows at a medium pace so far. Would recommend this one too.

Any other ideas/suggestions?

Anna

The speed a mondo grass grows seems to depend on the cultivar and the growing conditions. If it is planted in and area with decent soil that gets watered regularly it will spread fairly quickly in my experience. The type that spreads the quickest seems to be the tallest variety, Ophiopogon japonicus, which gets 12" tall at most. This is also the type that blooms the best. It also seems to grow best in part to full shade. My parents have it growing as a border in an island flower bed and it has to be thinned periodicly so that it doesn't spread to far into the bed. Plus it's tough enough to even stand up to having dogs regularly taking naps on it!

Here's a picture of begonia U002. It's not mine but mine looks just like it. THere also some information on this website

Here is a link that might be useful: begonia society

Barb, that begonia is georeous! That's on my wish list now. ;o)

that dwarf chenille sounds like the perfect plant. Will someone have a bit to share at Kate's swap?

Evelyn

Anna,

They are bird's nest sanservia and until they came up in this conversation, I would never thought of them as groundcover. However, that may be that they just were not in the right place. I dug them up from here when the old house was being torn down (three years ago) to keep them from being squashed by the big machines and stuck them in the ground at the other house. They didn't die but they didn't spread either so I put them in pots when I was rearranging things. Now my gardening skills have improved slightly over the years and they are back in their original habitat, I may try them again in the ground.

Melissa

I grew Aztec Sweet Herb as a fast spreading groundcover when I lived in FL 9a and LOVED it and am now growing it in TX 9a. Full sun to part shade. Will take light foot traffic. The leaves smell awesome when crushed (light foot traffic.) You're supposed to be able to extract the whatever from the leaves to use as a sugar substitute, but I've not tried that. I just love it as a groundcover that will grow in the FL sand or this TX clay with no pests, minimal watering. Pat

Here is a link that might be useful: Aztec Sweet Herb

One of the best groundcovers I've used is Evolvulus glomeratus - Blue Daze. It gets to around 12" +/- and is in bloom all year long. Full sun, minimal to average water, and will not spread as quickly as some of the other plants mentioned here.

Hey Ricky,

Years ago I planted blue daze and they seemed to get a fungus or something with black on the inside of the plant after a year or so. However, for that first year they were outstanding. At the time, it turned me off to think I'd need to replace them every other year. Now that I think of it, I replace pentas routinely, so why not blue daze. More than a year of continuous bloom would make it worth it. Thanks for the reminder again.

Anna

Anna - Also, as far as bromeliads are concerned. The one that I've had the most success with is Neoregelia "Martin" - lower left corner of this photo. If you'd like some, let me know. I can bring them to any of the next three swaps and I harvest them all the time.

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When my blue daze gets that black center, I cut it back almost to the ground. In a few weeks it forms a new, dense plant, and looks fuller than ever. It is a pretty tough plant and seems to do well even in dry periods.

I'm taking note of lots of these great groundcovers. I think I may have places for several of them. Ill, I love that aptenia of yours. (I'll bet you hear that all the time, hehe!)

Marcia

I used to grow both the pink and yellow ice plant but my doves love to eat it and it ended up looking ratty much of the time. I also used to have the giant starfish but riped it out as well. It grew very well and was so easy but the flowers attract way more flys than I want in my little yard. A couple things I haven't seen mentioned are rain lily and mimosa. The mimosa is a litte invasive but the flowers are really pretty in the summer. You can get rain lilies of all colors and sizes these days and I even flower them in the shade. Oh and then there is black mondo grass which is new to me but really cool looking if you like that dark look. How about southern wood? Very common but the color is bright in a shady spot. I have some noid small bromeliads I can share that multiply easily even in full sun. I also love the look of the begonias but like you say they are slow growing, unlike the large ones. The more I type the more I think of. Guess I better let someone else in.

I had the black mondo grass and I was warned when I got it, it will revert back and it did. Still it is a nice little green grass. I use the dwarf mondo as a filler between stepping stones. ;o)

The black mondo grass must be planted in full sun in a rich organic soil to hold its color.

Ricky, I'll be going to Kate's swap. If you have any extra Neoreglia "Martin", I'd love one.

Anna, I have had a lot of luck with spider plants as ground cover, even in the sun. I had the same rotten luck with sedums.

Lynne - I'll harvest a box full of them and some 'Fireball' as well.

Ricky, will the black mondo grass go back to black if I give full sun and organic matter? Mine was is half day sun.
I guess it is worth a try.

Ricky, your neo's look beautiful as a ground cover, and your buttonwood ginger look so much better than mine (have nearly died out in the brutal heat with not enough water). I thank you for your offer on the neo's. I have trouble attending swaps on weekends- we travel a lot then. Maybe if someone from Sarasota goes they wouldn't mind bringing one back for me. Thank-you.

Lady, I do have two clumps of rain lilies. Haven't bloomed much this year (no rain). I really enjoy them, and like joycrick's idea of mixing them in with liriope.

Lynne melb- I haven't tried spider plants. I think I'll give them a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

I haven't grown mondo grass in years, but I remember it to be slow. Is that the case?

Does iceplant, aptenia, seed? Is it invasive in any way?

Anna

Thanks, Ricky.
Anna, I have the yellow aptenia, and I haven't seen any seeds.
I haven't had any problems with it being invasive. If it grows too big, I just cut the stems.