Cathy wrote, >Most of the things sold as groundcovers seem to spread by stolons. Or else >they root as they go along. I was growing some variegated Vinca in pots as a >test but it looks so vigorous where it gets ample water that it may be as >bad as the ivy. Usually recommended are things like Bishop's weed but I must >say I am not very inclined to use anything having 'weed' as a surname! Whatever you do NEVER plant Bishop's weed (Aegopodium podagraria)!!!! Vinca is also a real threat, and it has moved into natural vegetation in this area. A good groundcover for a steep slope in the Pacific Coast states are Pacific Coast irises, both species and their many and beautiful hybrids. They don't "spread" but they quickly make large, weed-suppressing clumps. Many are evergreen, too. They are drought tolerant and can be interplanted with bulbs. And don't forget penstemons (the low kinds, not the big border hybrids); many are open enough that bulbs can grow up through them, and brodiaeas coming up through P. rupicola are a classic combination. Jane McGary NW Oregon