Kate Warnock (Kate Kruse), a former editorial apprentice at Midwest Living and a graduate of Iowa State University, lives in St. Louis. She works as a marketing manager at NDG and specializes in home projects.
Keep weeds at bay and boost your garden's appeal with these easy-to-grow ground covers, including daylilies, hostas, sedum, phlox and more. Ground Covers For Sun
The showy violet blooms of Rozanne make the flower a groundcover favorite. It offers easy-to-maintain, non-stop flowering from May to July. "They stay put and give repeat bloom if you shear them," Esther McGinnis, horticulture expert at North Dakota State University, says. "Not a whole lot of effort required."
Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade
Courtesy of Ball Horticultural Company
The trumpet-shape blooms of daylilies provide fragrance and color contrast to any garden. Plus, the hardy flower crowds out weeds and attracts butterflies.
Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade
Easy-to-grow hostas spring up in hundreds of varieties. "Just group a bunch of hostas together, and you never have to weed," says McGinnis. "They are probably the easiest ground cover to maintain."
Growing conditions: Part shade to full shade
Courtesy of Ball Horticultural Company
Though not native to the Midwest, mazus reptans makes an excellent low-maintenance groundcover. The plant's petite purple flowers bloom in showy clusters during early- to mid-summer. Ideal for growing around stepping stones.
Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade
This European variety of ginger displays shiny, heart-shape leaves and grows tiny greenish-yellow flowers in April and May. "Asarum europaeum offers a really nice contrast with ferns and other fine-texture perennials," says Lisa Johnson, horticulture educator for University of Wisconsin-Extension. "It's a little bit more refined than the common ginger."
Growing conditions: Part shade to full shade
Three-leaved stonecrop features bunches of small, starlike flowers that give a natural succulent look. Since sedum ternatum is an early bloomer, it easily attracts pollinators and butterflies. "I'm just a fan of the succulent leaves and all the shapes and forms," says Cheryl Boyer, horticulture expert at Kansas State University. "They are so beautiful."
Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade
Moss phlox blooms early in the spring, carpeting the ground with flowers in shades of purple, pink or white. "Phlox subulata is perfectly well-suited to our climate," says Richard Jauron, a retired horticulture specialist at Iowa State University. "Place it at the front of your garden and watch it spread."
This vivacious plant thrives even in rocky or sandy soil and adds texture to a garden with needlelike leaves. The bright yellow, daisy-like blooms dazzle from late spring through summer. Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb' "is a heavy, long-time bloomer," Johnson says. "It just goes on and on forever."
Nepeta 'Walker's Low' catmint displays spires of purple blooms early in the spring that rebloom nearly all season. 'Walker's Low' flaunts fragrant, silver-green foliage, and it allures cats as a hybrid of catnip.
Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade
Barrenwort offers year-round color as a four-season plant. The leaves cast tones of crimson, green or bronze depending on the season. The plant blooms in early spring with wiry yellow flowers. "It's very vigorous-not a wimpy shade plant," says Hoosier Gardener blogger Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp.
Growing conditions: Part shade to full shade
The 'Angelina' variation of stonecrop adorns a garden with its spiky, colorful leaves. Its color evolves throughout the year from yellow in the spring to reddish-orange in the fall.
This easy-to-grow flower "practically grows on concrete," Sharp says. The fragrant plant forms a tight matte of pink, needle-like flowers excellent for cutting. As an evergreen, Dianthus 'Bath's Pink' retains its foliage in the winter.
Foamflower stages three-season interest with leaves that turn reddish-bronze in the autumn and winter. Tiarella cordifolia's tiny white or pink flowers attract pollinators.
Growing conditions: Part shade to full shade
Phlox stolonifera grows tall clusters of fragrant pink or violet blooms in late summer. The easy-to-grow flower tolerates drought and thrives in wooded areas.
Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade
Commonly known as Pennsylvania sedge, this grasslike plant softens a garden with its dainty, draping leaves. "It's a perfect groundcover for the Midwest for a difficult situation," McGinnis says. "It's a great one for planting under trees."
Creeping Phlox Ground Cover Growing conditions: Part shade to full shade