Groundcover Spreader for Spring Flowers

For Full Sun

• Areas with full sun present the greatest range of opportunities for growing knock-out displays of flowering groundcovers. Reliable candytuft (Iberis sempervirens), hardy from U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 8, seems to bring a touch of winter back into spring, as the dense mounds of white flowers look like misplaced snow drifts in April and May. Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) is popular and versatile, hardy from USDA zones 2 through 9, and its thick mats are topped by vibrant pink, lavender or fuchsia-colored blooms in April and May. Bloody cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum) actually sports flowers that are pinker in color than the name suggests, and forms attractive, loose-foliaged tussocks that perform well along low borders. It is hardy from USDA zones 4 through 8.

For Shadier Sites

• Shade can be a tough place to grow flowers, but spring is an excellent time for flowering groundcovers in the understory. Woodland phlox (Phlox stolonifera), hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9, brings the familiar phlox flower into the shade, where pink, purple and almost blue flowers hover over tangled bases on eight- to 12-inch stalks. Sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) produces haunting, tiny white star-shaped flowers over deep green, shiny foliage, and can grow in some of the deepest shade in USDA zones 4 through 8. It does sometimes escape cultivation, so use caution when using this plant if you are located near sensitive woodlands. Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), hardy in USDA zones 4 through 9, is slower growing but well worth the wait, attractive both for its bronzy, ruffled leaves as well as its fleecy, fragrant flower spikes.

For Difficult Areas

• Dry sites can present problems, but do not necessarily require a cover of pea gravel to solve. Sea thrift (Armeria maritima) sprouts large, bright pink or white flowers in spring and actually resents damp conditions. Deadheading flowers encourages further blooming. Three-leaved stonecrop (Sedum ternatum) is a native species of sedum that blooms earlier than other types, usually from May through June, with a white, three-pronged flower structure unusual to the eye but irresistible to butterflies. It will grow in a wide range of soils and moisture conditions. It will take root from even tiny stems and is easily propagated, but never a nuisance. Both sea thrift and stonecrop are hardy in USDA zones 4 through 8.

Vines

• There are alternatives to ivy! Sometimes a spot simply screams out for the cover of a pretty, scrambling vine, and among the most beautiful of our native flowering vines is the Carolina jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens), often in bloom by Easter and never a disappointment. The fragrant, bright yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers appear even when the vine is grown in shade, though flower display is more profuse in the sun. It is hardy in USDA zones 7 through 9, though the cultivar “Margarita” is reliably hardy to zone 6. Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) is an all-season star, with white flowers reminiscent of blueberry blooms in spring, red berries from fall through winter, and glossy, evergreen leaves all year long. Besides being the source for the wintergreen flavor, it is also hardy in USDA zones 3 through 7. Finally, though native honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is particularly fetching when grown on a trellis, arbor or fenceline, it works well as a groundcover in USDA zones 4 through 9. Various cultivars are available, all with brightly colored, tubular flowers beloved by hummingbirds.