Hi Langley,

I'm not a huge fan of perennial peanut. I know a lot of people rave about it but I had bud luck growing it. It is present in the medians all over Seminole Co too and based on what I have seen it only really looks good for a few months out of the year. Just my opinion I know there are others who love it.

Dune sunflower- I can't imagine a more beautiful carefree plant. As soon as the weather hits the 70s (this week?) I am going to celebrate by ripping out an area of grass (10x4) down by the mailbox and going to plant a dune sunflower.

I am also planning to try sensitive plant (mimosa strigillosa), another FL native. I actually just put a request up for any seeds on the exchange board. I couldn't find any to buy online believe it or not. I did see plants for sale a few weeks ago at Lukas too if you are interested. It can be mowed, can handle foot traffic and gets the little pink powderpuff flower spikes on it. Plus my 2 preschoolers will love the leaves that curl when touched.

Good luck with your move!

Naomi

Here is a link that might be useful: Mimosa strigillosa

I like perennial peanut but it looks " perfect " only part of the year - not all the time . It needs full blazing sun and some rain . It does not need to be mowed or fertilized . It looks best when weeded by hand . It is easy to sprig other areas with runners and they all seem to take . You can over seed with Winter Rye in the cooler months .
Dune sunflower can get stringy and ratty looking at this time of year . It does root well from small cuttings but not seeds .
Not sure if there is an ideal ground cover . You might have to plant several and experiment . The nice part - you have lots of options .
Here is another link for ground cover suggestions :
Ground Covers for Florida Homes
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP016

Here is a link that might be useful: Perennial Peanut Establishment Guide

My current favorite ground cover is sweet potato (the edible kind.) Granted, I tend to only put effort into growing edible or useful plants so my ideas may be a bit skewed in that direction. The sweet potato vines make a great ground cover spring through fall. They will generally die back with a freeze though.

The best part is they grow well down here and provide food.

Here is a link that might be useful: TCLynx

What great advice! Naomi, I remember the sensitive briar as a youngster, but didn't know there was one that wasn't a briar. That will definitely be on my list of groundcovers to get! I'm disappointed at the perennial peanut.. had hoped for year-ground cover. But at least the dune sunflower has great potential, and it's far better than wedalia.

Gatormomx2, that site was very helpful! I have a whole lot more to investigate now, especially the ones that prefer partial shade, since we have a whole lot of that in our new yard.

Tclynx, I LOVE the house you plan to build!!! I may just try sweet potato as a groundcover in an area, too!

Thank you all very much!

Namaste!
Langley

Langley - I would take different approach to your problem - build shade. If the area is large enough, there are several large trees you could plant. This, in turn, would allow for a much larger plant palette to come into play.

I grow pernennial peanut between the sidewalk and the street. I started it last January and by mid summer it had filled in. During the growing season it is suggested to mow it once a month and to fertilize with Sol Po Mag.
Mine has looked nice all along but I haven't been through a winter yet. I would recommend it.

At my last house I grew sunshine mimosa. From a little sprig that I got in a trade it grew into quite a large patch. It was good from me were I had it. I didn't have to worry about it getting into areas that it wasn't wanted. It is kind of like Bermuda grass in that it has deep runners and once established it's yours forever! It will go into places not intended. I didn't give it any care at all and it looked good all the time...if memory serves me.

I ripped out all of my grass last year and went with plants, flowers, and three different ground covers that all do well in full sun. I love all three, all are Florida natives and are much better than turf grass.

I've had my bad experiences with "weedelia". Evil stuff.

Beach or Dune Sunflower
Pros:
Extremely drought resistant, flowers almost all year, attracts insects, smothers weeds, grows fast, easy to trim.
Cons:
Will smother other plants. Expect it to grow outwards in a circle with a radius 10-15;.

Sunshine Mimosa / Mimosa strigillosa
Pros:
Extremely drought resistant, flowers almost all year, attracts insects, smothers weeds, grows fast, tolerates foot traffic (but watch out for bees in the morning). This stuff is so tough it grows about a foot or so onto our driveway.
Cons:
Spreads, a lot. The runners are VERY tough to cut and trim. I have to trim it every month or so to keep it off the sidewalk.

Porterweed / Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
Pros:
Fairly drought resistant, flowers almost all year (blooms gone by noon), attracts insects and butterflys, more contained (about a 5' radius).
Cons:
Can not walk on. Mine suffered significant frost burn, did not hurt plant, but it looked bad for about 4 months till the rains started.

Of the three, I like the Dune Sunflower the best. It grows the fastest, so you will probably have to trim it. I do, but it is soft and easy to cut. Sunshine mimosa is the closest to grass. You can walk on it and mow it, but I worry that it would spread out of control.

Pictures of the three:

Fawnridge, we have so much shade in the rest of the yard, so we actually appreciate what sun we have in the front. Our driveway is circular, and in the center of the circle we hope to put a rose garden. Then in the outer perimeter, some groundcover.

Thank you, laura1, for the recommend. I'm sure that I will try the perennial peanut SOMEWHERE, but perhaps not in the front.

David2267, thanks for the pics! They help me conceptualize the look we are going for in the front yard. I had not considered porterweed as a groundcover... another option!

I do believe the dune sunflower is going to be the winner for the sunny front yard around the perimeter of the driveway. My SIL makes the final decision, because he's the front yard gardener. He calls himself a Nazi when it comes to how the front yard looks... he wants very manicured. The back yard, we both agree we love a wild look.

Thanks all once again for your valuable input! Have a great week!

Namaste!
Langley

I love wedelia! I have it planted around my ligustrum bordering my yard, keep it trimmed, and it looks just fine. The yellow flowers add a nice touch. For all you wedelia haters out there, a little work will keep it in line.