Regional Picks: Tough Ground Covers – Southern Plains

1. Creeping Wire Vine

Name:Muehlenbeckia axillaris

USDA hardiness zones:8 to 10

Size:2 to 4 inches tall and up to 30 inches wide

weather : Full sunlight to partial shade ; well - drain dirt

Some references touch on to this plant as deciduous , others as semievergreen , and many as evergreen plant . Its cold daring is likewise list as anywhere from Zones 6 to 8 . We have been growing creeping telegram vine here for year , so I would regard it a Zone 7 flora — possibly even Zone 6 . All agree , however , that it is a salient terra firma cover with stalk twin only column inch off the reason , develop a unvarying blanket able of shading out most weeds .

2. ‘Countess Helen von Stein’ Lambs’ Ears

Name:Stachys byzantina‘Countess Helen von Stein’

Zones:4 to 8

Size:1 foot magniloquent and up to 2 foundation wide

Lambs ’ ears is nifty for a child ’s garden . Who can resist that name and the fuzzy - soft grain of the leaves ? And with the cultivar ‘ Countess Helen von Stein ’ , there is that much more to love . The parting tend to be twice as large as the mintage . As the stems distribute horizontally , they root where they hit the ground , forming a dense bed of silvern leafage that works well as a land top or at the edge of a border . In early summertime , it sends up silver spikes bearing little empurpled - pinkish flowers . Lambs ’ ear is well-to-do to split .

3. Green Santolina

Santolina rosmarinifoliaand cvs.

Zones:7 to 9

Size:8 to 12 inch tall ( with flower stalks 18 inch magniloquent ) and up to 3 feet wide

condition : Full sun ; well - drained filth

Although not as dusty tolerant as its more - often - used cousin , lavender cotton ( S. chamaecyparissus , Zones 6–9 ) , the aromatic foliage of green santolina is a great choice for those who already have enough silver - foliage plants . Green santolina is also better behaved , diffuse more slow and persist more compendious than lilac-colored cotton . Yet it , too , can be topped with bright yellow floral buttons in late spring . Traditionally used in knot garden , this industrial plant can make an interesting ground covering fire of evergreen cumulus , which are drouth kind and need little care .

4. Pacific Chrysanthemum

Name:Ajania pacifica

Zones:5 to 9

Size:2 feet tall and up to 3 foot across-the-board

Conditions : Full sun to partial shade ; well - drained ground , especially in winter

Some plants have architectural appeal , and for Pacific chrysanthemum , it comes from the plant ’s silver medal - margined leaf that spirals up its long , curve root word . Although it may develop clusters of yellow heyday in fall , the beauty of this flora is due to its attractive leafage . It can reach 2 feet grandiloquent , but it process well as a earth cover because the plant is so uniform . It was once placed in the genusChrysanthemum — hence , its common name — but now , it is a member of the genusAjania , a group of plants aboriginal to rocky hillside .

Lou Anellais a professor of horticulture at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater .

picture : # 1 and # 3 , good manners of Lou Anella ; # 2 and # 4 , Michelle Gervais

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Regional Picks: Tough Ground Covers - Northeast

Regional Picks: Tough Ground Covers - Southeast

Regional Picks: Tough Ground Covers - Midwest

Regional Picks: Tough Ground Covers - Southern California

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