Viewing comments posted by Marylyn

Be careful where you plant this in zone 9b. I planted just one little plant - and I am pulling dozens of them out every time I weed. They are interesting plants, but would probably be best in a contained bed, or in a pot unless you really want lots of them. Those beds are partial/deep shade, and they are very happy.

This plant has popped up in between the bricks in my walkway, and in the poor soil between the walkways. It gets partial shade and absolutely no attention. It's a pretty mound of green and yellow right now, and looks much better than anything I have tried planting in that spot (except for the Vinca major 'Variegata,' aka "scary vinca," that I have been regretting and pulling for two years now), so I'm going to pull it from between the bricks and try to encourage it in the soil.

I was given some liriope by a friend. It's a compact kind, with white flowers instead of lavender, but I don't know the name, so I am posting this comment under the general entry.

I planted one row of it around a tree in a shady bed, and it looked wonderful. Eight or so years later, it now fills the middle of the bed, wherever I don't have something else planted. It makes great "living mulch"! It keeps out most weeds, and doesn't seem to bother the new bushes at all. (We took out the original tree a few years ago.)

Its roots are very shallow, and it isn't too much of a chore to rip it out where it isn't wanted. It transplants to a new site very easily. It survived the nasty drought in 2011 (when most of the smaller monkey grass that was planted nearby died), and several cold winters haven't bothered it a bit.

These are beautiful and very easy to grow, but...! They can become invasive very quickly and are hard to eradicate once established. They're great for planting around trees in grassy areas where you can mow down the invaders. I have some planted in a shady garden where they grow and bloom, but don't spread toooooo quickly.

Mondo grass spreads very slowly. We planted it between stepping stones, and it is slowly filling in the spaces. It is tolerant of foot traffic and has done well in poor soil and partial to full shade.

We were gifted with several bags full of thinned out monkey grass from a friend shortly after moving into our new home. I planted a ring around a raised bed that was almost fully shaded in the summer. It gets partial sun in the winter when the neighbor's ash tree looses its leaves. In about 5 years the monkey grass was almost meeting in the middle of the bed - and the bed is about 12 feet in diameter! Fortunately it is easy to pull and re-home.

Don't buy this at a store!! Ask around or look in Craigslist and you'll probably find someone more than willing to give you their extras.

It is a great groundcover - it won't take over the world the moment your back is turned, but it will spread as far as you let it. It spreads by shallow runners and it is very easy to pull up. It is attractive. Cats love it! It can take moderate foot traffic without complaint. It has fared just fine in Houston's heavy rainfalls. Some of it did die this summer in our long drought - I was surprised! I know where I can get more, though! :-)

This grows in my raised bed in partial sun. It is evergreen and blooms all summer long.

I saw this growing along a path in a forested camp in Central Texas.

I have two rosemary bushes in my garden. They only get part sun so they don't bloom, but they grow happily all year long. I had another bush deeper in the shade and it wasn't happy at all.