Tag: ground cover
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Aizoacea & Mesembryanthemum
The Aizoaceae family is endemic to South Africa and has brought forth a multitude of mostly low-growing, spreading plants with fleshy leaves and bright flowers that work well as ground cover on dry soils in full sun. Several of its members are know as “ice plant” or “mesembryanthemum”. Interestingly, even “New Zealand Spinach” that grows…
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Vinca minor / major
Periwinkle as ground cover Vinca has always been a “must-have” for me. I love it for its shiny dark green leaves and the bright blue, purple, or white “pinwheel” flowers, appearing between February and May and for some varieties again in late summer. In the front garden near the entrance portal are some Eleagnus and…
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Ipomoea Batatas – Sweet Potatoes
Pretty (though few) flowers and tasty fruit – Ipomoea batatas or Sweet Potato work well here in this Mediterranean garden. The wild form of Ipomoea batatas is native to Central America. It was imported to Asia by the Spanish and to Africa by freed African slaves. Today it’s grown in almost all tropical and subtropical…
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Bulbine frutescens
Bulbine frutescens is a very pretty evergreen succulent and one of those quintessential plants destined for a dry Mediterranean garden. As a native of South Africa it is not very frost hardy (-5℃ in well-drained soil) but very drought-tolerant (Filippi gives it a “code de sécheresse” of 5). In our garden, it has easily tolerated…
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Portulaca grandiflora
Portulaca: One of those simple and seemingly “stuffy” plants that I had always ignored – until I needed to find some pretty summer ground cover for two large pots on the terrace. These plants are everywhere and they are so inexpensive that they are practically thrown in with your purchase at the garden center. They…
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Summer Green: Tetragonia tetragonioides
In my Mediterranean garden spinach grows very well over winter and into spring but the summer is way too hot for it. Tetragonia tetragonioides or New Zealand spinach is the perfect “summer spinach”. It is a plant from the Aizoaceae or “ice plant” family (mesembryanthemum, delosperma & Co.). Unlike others of this family it is…