One plant which works very well in our climate for this purpose is Begonia grandis (B. evansiana). There are many perennial plants which can be planted over bubls, but the particular advantage of this begonia is its late emergence. It makes little if any light competition for vernal ephemerals. It's very handsome in late summer/early autumn when it blooms, too. The flowers themselves are ornamental, and so too are the developing seed capsules. It's big: plants are easily thirty inches high, and individual leaves can be 5 inches by 8 inches or more. It's just about weedy here, but in a cooler climate is probably much more restrained. Another one to consider is Begonia sutherlandii. In this area this one is marginally hardy: some growers report it to be reliably perennial, others report occasional or frequent winter killing. This one is much smaller, only about eight inches at the most, and eventually has bright orange flowers. Another unseemly choice for this climate are the various Mexican Oxalis. These seem to survive the winter reliably, but do not begin to grow until very late in the year - sometimes not until June. The ones which work best here are O. regnellii, O. corymbosa 'aureoreticulata', O. deppei, and in sheltered places O. lasiandra. Another thing to consider: many annuals, especially those which take three or four months to mature from seed. Sometime around the middle of June self-sown Impatiens wallerana begin to bloom in this garden. By then, plants bought earlier in the year from suppliers of bedding plants have been in the ground for perhaps two months, and these self-sown plants are tiny in comparison. But in the heat and humidity of our summers, they grow rapidly. Cuphea ignea is another one I like. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where I was out in the garden early this morning to take photos - only to have the camera lens fog up in the heat and humidity. -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of johngrimshaw@tiscali.co.uk Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 2:31 AM To: Alpine-L, the Electronic Rock Garden Society; postings copyright by authors. Cc: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: [pbs] ground cover for summer dormant bulbs Every year, about this time, I am vexed by the sight of bare soil where the spring bulbs have gone dormant. I hate bare soil as it seems such a wasted opportunity to be growing something, so I am looking for plants to form a low carpet over these areas. Ideally these should be perennial, need no care or supplementary water, form a mat over the area, but not offer any resistance to an emerging shoot, or any competition to the growing bulbs that are the most important occupants of the space. Certain Sedums are suitable, and in a rock garden setting there would be many options from the genus, but the areas I need to cover are in a 'woodland' garden with shade for part of the day. Yesterday, taking advantage of moistish ground and the forecast of two or three days of wet weather (yippee!) I put out some plants of Pratia pedunculata and Leptinella (Cotula) 'Platt's Black' over snowdrop patches. Last year I used a rather good bright green Leptinella that I had from Wayne Roderick (any suggestions for identification would be welcome!). It has tolerated the conditions quite well, but for some obscure reason I only planted it in areas where there is only a narrow fringe of 'bare' ground between thick herbaceous plants and the edge of the bed. In other areas there are several square feet of bare ground to cover in the case of the bigger patches of snowdrops, so some vigour is needed. I should be very interested to hear what other people use or could suggest. John Grimshaw Dr John M. Grimshaw Garden Manager, Colesbourne Gardens Sycamore Cottage Colesbourne Nr Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL53 9NP Website: http://www.colesbournegardens.org.uk/ _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php