Re: Ground Cover for shade?

Hmmm, Jennifer, if you want aggressive, try Lamiastrum galeobdolon,
the variegated form.  Actually, quite nice green and white leaves and
spikes of yellow flowers in spring for a week or so.  Spreads via
long "arms" that root down when they touch soil.  Have had it doing
battle with Pachysandra terminalis, under a group of trees in totally
lousy clay, for nearly twenty years...slowly but steadily it's
winning the territory war.  Also seeds around somewhat, but basic
spread is vegetative and aggressive.  It's great for covering ground
but not a plant to plant anywhere near something valuable or fragile
as it will swallow it up in no time.

Have only semi-decent photos of it in this article - but will give
you an idea of the leaf and what a mass of it looks like in bloom:

http://suite101.com/article.cfm/shade_gardening/8920

The cultivar 'Herman's Pride' (photo also in that article) is even
more showy in leaf, but not in bloom.  It's a clump former and not
particularly aggressive.  It will seed around some, but is not what
I'd call a real "groundcover" in that you'd have to plant many clumps
to cover the ground, whereas the species will do that for you from
only a few plants...the mass I have probably started out as no more
than 3 plants and maybe even only one as I seldom buy anything in
more than 3 and seldom even do that.

L. g. 'Variegatum' is evergreen for me in all but the worst winters,
so imagine it would be completely evergreen for you.  Older stems and
foliage can get ratty looking and need cutting back.  If the area
where mine is weren't so full of stumps and fallen branches buried
under the foliage, I'd take the lawnmower to it after it blooms.  As
it is, I just manually whack back the worst bits.  Holds up under
drought just fine in my garden with no purposeful extra water tho' it
will get overspray from watering other parts of the garden.

It can be pulled, although not really easily unless the soil is nice
and loose as it gets a nice tenacious root system going - not a tap
root or anything, but roots that dig in.  I mow what passes for the
grass abutting it to keep it in check when it wants to leap out and
claim more territory.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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> From: Jennifer Sheppard <Jennys2@AOL.COM>
> Date: Wednesday, March 08, 2000 8:49 PM
>
> Hello all,
> Does anybody have suggestions for aggressive ground cover for a
large shady
> area?
> Also the more colorful the better:) One more thing... suggestions
as to where
> to buy
> the plants would be great!!!
>
> Thanks,
> Jennifer Sheppard
> N. Louisiana
> zone 8
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