I've been to the county extension office, and if a plant isn't considered a weed here, they don't seem to know too much about it. They are into weed control more than anything. Like the yellow star thistle that are taken over. It's a great ground cover!
They did give me the name of the closest supplier of native plants (a couple of hours away, at best), but they had no idea if there was a ground cover in that category. They also gave us the name of a native grass seed supplier in the city, and we've been there. He had nothing that was a pretty flowering ground cover, since he only deals in grasses. We're not wanting to plant lawn on any slopes, but we'll be buying a few pounds of some clumping type grass seeds in the Spring for other slopes and flat areas. I want something that blooms for a particular spot though, and don't want grasses growing there.
Jo Ann, I'm glad to know of negatives also! With the battle we are having to do with the yellow star thistle, I'm not wanting to plant anything that I'll have to battle in the future!
I had Dead Nettle in Utah, and it was gorgeous! I had a couple of different ones, and only one was truly invasive. It was yellow, and had Lucifer in it's name, if I remember right. It was a fitting name. I never want to see that plant again! The pink, purple, and white ones did great and were very easy to control, but they didn't do all that great in the sun, even with lots of water. They bloomed like crazy in the shade, but bloomed very little in the sun. It's a good suggestion though, and I may plant some here, if I find out that they can survive on a lot less water than what they were getting there.
Susan, my first thought was Delosperma, which I grew in Utah, but it was so slow growing that I put it out of my mind! It's one of my favorite ground covers, and I know it does well in the heat, and is drought tolerant. My best friend is from South Africa, and she had lots of it planted at her house because of that, but it didn't grow fast for her either. Maybe it was because of the zone? We were in 5a. My Dad has it at his house in zone 3, and it blooms really well, but doesn't spread much at all for him, either. I've seen where it's hardy to zone 6, so maybe that is why it doesn't really spread. Now that I'm in a warmer zone, maybe I should give it another try! It would be the one that I'd prefer over all the other ones that I'm aware of.
