Check out these 18 Flowering Ground Cover Plants, you’ll find some best low growing plants on this list, they’re not only easy to grow but looks beautiful too.
1. Bigroot Geranium (Geranium macrorrhizum)
This old fashioned tough and aggressive perennial ground cover is a good choice for gardeners who want to grow low maintenance plants. The plant barely grows up to 1-1.5 feet tall and loves the sun. Blooms appear when the weather warms up in colors like pink, red or pale pink with interesting variegated foliage. You can also plant it in groups under the trees, the bigroot geranium is a drought tolerant plant and best grown in temperates under USDA Zones 4 to 8b.
2. Spotted Dead Nettle
Dead nettle (Lamium maculatum) is notable for both its variegated foliage and its dense clusters of flowers, which appear in a variety of colors, including white, pink and purple (depending on the cultivar). This low growing plant can be grown diversely in different climates (USDA Zones 3-10), providing it cool, moist soil and shade to part shade. However, it must be noted that dead nettle can be invasive and considered as a weed by many gardeners.
3. Moss Rose (Portulaca)
This pretty little plant with needle-like foliage and tiny colorful flowers looks absolutely stunning. It is an annual or perennial (*in warm tropical and subtropical climates) ground cover that spreads densely. The blooms come in yellow, pink, red, white, orange and many more colors. Moss rose is very tolerant of poor conditions and dry soil.
Also called ‘Sun Rose’ or ‘Rock Rose’, this subshrub comes from the family Cistaceae and barely grows up to 1 feet tall. Providing a well-drained soil and full sun (part shade in warmer climates) it blooms happily. The showy flowers of this genus come in shades of orange, pink, yellow, scarlet, and white. There are some varieties available that bloom for a long time from spring to fall (autumn). Grows in USDA Zones 5-9, this plant usually dies back in the colder regions when the winter perks up, whereas in warmer zones it remains evergreen.
5. Lilyturf (Liriope)
Lilyturf is neither a grass nor a lily. This showy and tough groundcover has lush and deep green, grass-like foliage ordered in slightly upright tufts. Spikes of violet or lavender color flowers appear from late summer until the fall.
Lilyturf (USDA Zones 6-10) requires full sun in colder regions but in warm subtropical or tropical climate, you can grow it in dappled shade. It can be grown between tall shrubs and underneath the canopy of trees, also use it for edging walkways or as and a low border accent. Liriope ‘Muscari’ and Liriope ‘Spicata’ are two most popular varieties.
6. Sweet Woodruff
Sweet woodruff is an excellent ground cover if you want to add fragrance to your garden. Grows best in part shade to full shade and on well-drained soil, this plant can grow up to a height of only 8-10 inches (When in bloom). It starts to bloom prolifically from mid-spring, sweet woodruff leaves also release fragrance when crushed.
7. Creeping Thyme
Thymus serpyllum is a low-growing aromatic flowering herb that is perennial and hardy in USDA Zones 4-9. Just like other thyme varieties it is edible too. This tiny plant barely grows up to 3 inches tall. It is deer resistant and an amazing alternative of grasses.
8. Brass Button
If you’re searching for a lawn substitute on which you can set foot without thinking much then consider growing brass button. It also forms yellow-golden flowers that appear from spring to summer. Brass buttons are hardy in USDA Zones 5-10 (but evergreen only in Zone 8-10), growing in temperates to subtropical climates both.
9. Creeping Phlox
This ground cover has pleasant flowers that appear in pastel hues. Growing this sturdy, low-maintenance plant is possible in USDA Zones 3-8, it is the plant that can be used in landscaping to hide the unsightly slope or other difficult areas as it rambles between rocks or cascades down. It can also be used as a bordering plant around the flowerbeds.
The genus ‘Sedum’ has a diverse group of ornamental succulent plants, you can grow low growing sedums as a ground cover in full sun and well-drained soil. Yellow flowers appear in summer. The best thing about sedums is there are about 400 species of them around the world that can be grown diversely in every climate.
11. Campanula Portenschlagiana
Campanula portenschlagiana or ‘Dalmatian Bellflower’ is a beautiful annual or perennial plant that forms a mat of small rounded leaves. The flowers are star-shaped, blue-purple in color that blooms from spring through summer. Relatively cold hardy but requires shelter when temperature dips below much. It grows in full sun and in the part shade too, on a fairly loose, well drained and alkaline soil.
12. Lily of the Valley
Lily of the Valley is one of the easiest and best flowering ground covers. Its fragrant little bell-shaped white flowers grow well in shade and have long blooming period. Growing lily of the valley plant is possible in cool temperate zones in USDA Zones 2-9.
13. Vinca minor
One of the most popular groundcovers, it is a hardy plant in both cold and warm climates under USDA Zones 4-10a that spreads quickly. It blooms prolifically, is easy to grow and tolerates poor soil and drought. Provide it full sun in the cold climate and part shade in warm climates.
14. Veronica ‘Goodness Grows’
This low growing beautiful perennial blooms from summer to fall. Good for country style or cottage style garden and also suitable for containers. With its spiky blue blooms, it looks good with bright green foliage. Veronica ‘Goodness Grows’ requires full sun and regular but moderate watering.
15. Firecracker (Russelia equisetiformis)
A warm climate plant that grows best in warm temperates, subtropics, and tropics (USDA Zones 8b-11). This drought tolerant plant is loved by nectar-feeding species of birds, and by butterflies. Fluffy, errant and wispy stems and foliage cascade down and camouflages the unsightly areas. It is suitable for slopes, borders, retaining walls and containers too.
16. Lamb’s Ear
One of the best flowering ground cover plants on our list due to its thick attractive silver-grey-green foliage that forms gentle and velvety rosettes, not only the foliage, its purple colored flowers that appear from late spring are appealing too. This excellent edging plant only grows up 12 inches tall in part sun to full sun under USDA Zones 4-9.
17. Society Garlic
Society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) is also known as ‘Pink agapanthus’. With its edible garlic-flavored purple flowers and clump forming grass like blue-grey foliage, this tough and low maintenance ground cover is a good option for those who live in warmer climates. Suitable for warm temperates, subtropics and tropics under USDA Zones 7-11.
Ajuga, which is also called ‘Bugleweed’ is a genus of perennial or annual flowering plants. It becomes an excellent ground cover, sometimes invasive. Many of its species are very popular, especially ‘Ajuga reptans’ that spread through its runners, having attractive foliage that forms a dense carpet-like mat and deep blue flower spikes. It is possible to grow ajuga in both cold and warm climates (USDA Zones, 3-10).