Sedum plants comes to mind but I don't really remember if it can be used for rocky area. I can relate having to get a lot of mulches. It's never fun.

I have to laugh about your wife being brown thumb. My wife is that way too. I pretty much do all the work outside.

Thanks.

Anyone else have any ideas or opinions?

I've seen Sago Palm in that type setting. I know they can get alot taller than 2 feet, but I think they grow very slowly. I've never grown them myself.
Aster ericoides looks nice among rocks - very low growing almost like a groundcover.
Perennial candytuft is pretty, but it's short lived.
Crimson Pygmy or Rose Glow barberry - watch out for the thorns tho.
Some type fountain grass or muhly grass, or the short Little Bunny fountain grass. I've grown all these except the palm and all I really have to do is a cleanup in late winter and let them alone the rest of the year.
I'd leave the rain lilies = I have the common white one Zephyranthes candida that is evergreen and never have to do anything to them. One of the easiest I think you could hope to have.

I may have misunderstood your post - are you planning on doing a solid cover of rock? Hmmmm - I think I'd do some boulders like moss boulders - they don't have to be huge-get some that you can carry yourself, and place them around in clusters of 3/5 (odd numbers), add some river rock in pockets - I think that would be much prettier. Then put the easy care plants in. You really don't have to do alot of mulch that way. The only problem I'd have with a solid rock idea is that after a few years when dirt a debris settles between the rocks, and weeds start to grow in the debris and possibly start to bury the rocks, you have to remove them, clean out the area and replace the rock. Ask me how I know this! grin

Thanks for your input deb.

Care to name off any easy care plants?

Well, if you want mostly rock which I think will look very nice if you use different sizes and leave a few small pockets for plants. You could get by with only a few plants. I don't know where you are or how much sun/shade you are talking about but, dwarf abelias are good, sago palm, little bunny fountain grass, and asters I mentioned above. I would think mostly small shrubs with small flowers that will self clean, and not grow to a size where you have to prune all the time. The spreading mahonia, Oregon grape holly is a favorite of mine. All of these require little care. And like I said, I'd keep your rain lilies, and your silver dragon if you like it. Just a few well placed plants would soften the rocks and look very nice.

Deb,

Again thanks for your information.

The area back there gets mostly shade all day, with some early morning/late evening sun.

Then the mahonia would do well, as will abelia, probably the sago palm - maybe azaleas? Aucuba in the most shaded ares would grow slowly and is evergreen and a couple of cultivars have variegated foliage. They can get to 5 feet but grow so slow you would only have to prune every few years. You wouldn't have to do many shrubs - just enough to break up the sea of rock.

We have that exact situation.

Lantana and Salvia Greggi have done quite well in a small strip of rocks between our drive and the street for 18 years. We recently replaced the weed cloth and the Lantana. The Salvia was doing great, so we replanted them.

BTW it's a lot of work to remove rocks and replace the weed cloth, but it seems to last 20 years or so.

I was going to say the smaller grasses would look nice. Liriope is pretty low maintenance...I'd leave that and the rain lilies. Pull out the blanket flowers. You could put in a few vinca. They will put out runners, but you can just cut them back and they keep on. I have the variegated variety in my shady backyard and the light green and white color looks really good against the darker rocks and mulch.

Ditto the comment on the rocks being filled in over time w/ stuff. What kind of trees do you have? Some trees put out tiny little seeds and you'll have seedlings everywhere that you'll need to pull constantly.

There is a hardy palm you can get instead of the sago that you'd have to cover druing a freeze.

The palms look good with rocks around them but weed blocker and rocks on top does not stop weeds from growing in there.

I have a rock border all the way around my pool and it's a big pain, leaves, dirt and not weeds are growing in it.

I'm ready to get rid of all the rock and put in bricks or something soild.

What a great idea for that space!

You might want to peruse some sites to get a visual look at
the plantings others have used (see my link below).
Or just study creek beds (although your plants won't be the usual 'water' plants due to dry conditions (unless you want to lay a drip line along the banks of your stream). In real creek beds I think you'll find that there are all sizes of stones from boulders to gravel, grasses and wildflowers of different heights. It sounds like your choices will have to like a fair amount of shade.

Also, I would recommend laying some thick landscape cloth in the 'creek bed' prior to adding the rocks. That way any weeds that eventually form between the rocks cannot establish very deep roots and can be more easily removed.
Of course a little Roundup sprayed onto weeds might be just as easy.

Here is a link that might be useful: google image pages of 'dry creek beds'

I did the thick black pro landscape plastic. The problem isn't from the bottom it's from dirt flying in the air and filling in the spaces of the rock. It takes a few years so your right back at maintaining pulling weeds out of the rock bed.

I would go with evergreen plants that are low maintenance. Maybe a low hedge English style.

Can you post a picture for us to help you out more?

oh, couple of others that would be pretty and low maintenance are ferns and rosemary. You could use either the prostrate or upright rosemary in your rock beds. I only prune mine back once a year. And ferns tucked in between the rocks would also look very pretty!

oh - if you are lucky enough to find Oxalis bulbs, you could put those in next to your rain lilies. Those are native and won't need any extra care.

Thanks for the hints and tips guys. After I get my beds cleaned up hopefully tomorrow (need to cut back the liriope something fierce, and finish pulling weeds. Spend friday morning and got a 5gallon bucket full of weeds!), I'll try and get pics of the area I have in mind.

Wife doesn't like the rain lillies, so they're getting pulled. Plus those things spread like wildfire, and I'm finding them all over the beds. Ugh. Gonna be a pain to pull them all up.