Red-Tipped Perennial Ground Cover Plants

Boston Ivy

• Several cultivars of Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) have green foliage with red margins. This deciduous vine grows prostrate as a groundcover. It quickly spreads and has lustrous, 4 to 8 inch wide, lobed leaves. Boston ivy is hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 4 and tolerates full sun to full shade, salt and moist soil types. Red-tipped cultivars include Atropurpurea and Purpurea, which produce red new foliage brightens as it ages. The Fenway Park cultivar has yellow, new growth that ages to green and red.

Epimedium

• Several epimedium (Epimedium spp.) types have red-tipped foliage. These deciduous groundcovers grow to 13 inches tall with a similar spread. They prefer partial shade and rich, moist, well-draining soil. Epimediums bloom in the spring with red, pink, yellow or white flowers. Red-tipped varieties include red epimedium (E. x rubrum), which has green, heart-shaped leaves with red margins. Bicolor epimedium (E. x versicolor "Sulphureum") has compound leaves with heart-shaped, red-edged leaflets. It grows in clumps and spreads by underground rootlets. Red and bicolor epimedium are hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9. White epimedium (E. x youngianum "Niveum") also has compound, heart-shaped leaves with red edges, but it loses its red color in summer. This groundcover is hardy in zones 5 to 8 and tolerates drought.

Ornamental Grasses

• Some ornamental grass species grow with bicolored foliage. Red Baron Japanese Blood Grass (Imperata cylindrica rubra "Red Baron") has narrow fronds with green bases and red tips. This deciduous grass grows from 12 to 24 inches tall and is hardy in USDA zones 5 to 10. It prefers sun to light shade and acidic, sandy soil. Red switch grass (Panicum virgatum "Haense Herms") has green fronds with red tips. It grows to 4 feet tall and turns bright orange in autumn. Red switch grass is hardy in zones 5 to 9 and prefers sun to partial shade and moist to dry soil.

Other Species

• Other red-tipped perennial species include the strawberry geranium (Saxifraga stolonifera), which grows from 6 to 8 inches tall in a low mat. It has heart-shaped, gray-green foliage with red-purple bottoms, edges and stems. It prefers light-to-partial shade and moist, well-draining, fertile soil. Strawberry geraniums are hardy in USDA zones 7 to 10. The chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata "Chameleon") grows from 12 to 15 inches tall and is hardy in zones 5 to 8. This fast-growing deciduous plant has aromatic, yellow-to-green, heart-shaped leaves with red tips. It blooms with yellow flowers in white bracts and prefers sun to light shade and a range of soils. The Purpurea honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica "Purpurea") is a vine that grows as a trailing groundcover. This semievergreen is hardy to zone 5 and grows to about 2 feet tall. It has lustrous foliage and produces aromatic flowers in early summer. It prefers full sun to partial shade and adapts to a variety of soils. Purpurea has red-purple tinted leaves and red flowers.