Tuesday 4 October 2016

Gorgeous Groundcovers

These sweet, cheerful groundcovers intermingle happily as they spread out over one of our largest garden beds. Hundreds of their blooms offer up their 'daisy faces' to the sun, to the honeybees that visit them often and to me, as I walk by.

The lovely Lilac Hawkesbury River Daisy (a native groundcover).

"Blue-eyes" with silvery foliage and beautiful blue blooms.
 
The sweet and simple flowers of Seaside Daisy.

Each individual flower is simple and beautiful but, when planted in drifts or so they spread over a larger expanse, the impact of those single blooms is multiplied many, many times over. They are my own little field of flowers in my suburban garden bed.




Over time, these groundcovers have grown and spread out to create a carpet of pretty little flowers. They have covered and shaded the soil, kept weeds at bay, softened the edges of our concrete driveway, fed the bees and found themselves in many a homegrown posy or daisy chain crown. They are a true delight!

Meg

p.s.  Here is a website list of ten Australian native groundcovers. Perhaps you might have room for one or two to run riot in your garden!









17 comments:

  1. I already have Seaside Daisy growing in my garden and it has gone crazy with all the rain we have had over the last few months, not that I'm complaining. The Blue Eyes is absolutely stunning and I will have to get some for my garden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've had good rain of late too, Jan. Wonderful, isn't it! I hope you'll be able to find some Blue Eyes to plant in your garden because they are beautiful. Meg:)

      Delete
  2. They all look so wonderful planted on mass. I love seeing how all their little faces turn to the sun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the tiny daisy flowers, which although small, are so pretty. The garden bed where they are planted faces South-West, so can get very hot in Summer, but these groundcovers don't seem to mind. Meg:)

      Delete
  3. Wow love the vivid blue flowering ground cover, absolutely gorgeous Meg. Of course I love the others as well but the blue really stands out!

    xTania

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Their blue is really eye-catching, Tania. I think it's lovely to have blue flowers in the garden. Meg:)

      Delete
  4. Angus left out one of my favourite native ground covers, Commelina cyanea. It is commonly known as scurvy weed and I think the cyan flower is lovely. I don't think many gardeners recognise it as a ground cover though. Your 'blue eyes' looks just beautiful. One garden I used to drive past had a large urn positioned in the middle of a round garden, the urn was filled to overflowing with 'blue eyes' and it was a stunning sight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An urn filled with Blue Eyes would be a lovely feature, Sherri. Their colour is such a beautiful blue. We have some scurvy weed in our garden but it's not covered a large expanse like these other groundcovers. I've heard that you can eat the leaves of scurvy weed. Have you ever tried them? Meg

      Delete
    2. No Meg I have never tried to eat the scurvy weed, I seen a few different sources refer to it as edible and some sources relate that it was eaten by the early colonialists.

      Delete
  5. Can you recommend a gound cover that you can walk on Meg? I would like to put some in our ramshackle back garden instead on grass ... mowing is not on my 'love to do' list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The first thing that comes to mind, Lucy, is thyme. Lawn thyme is a perennial herb that you can walk on and that doesn't actually need mowing. Here is a link so you can read some more about it and work out if it would be suitable for your garden.

      http://www.bluedale.com.au/about-us/latest-news/lawn-thyme-what-fabulous-plant-some-tips-getting-it-established

      Meg

      Delete
  6. They are beautiful planted on mass like that. Our family just got back from a trip out to Uluru, and due to unseasonally good rain out there, the wild flowers were every where! I will do a post on it soon, so keep your eyes peeled, I know you will love it! I think half my photos were of flowers LOL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome home, Cheryl! I can't wait to read about your Uluru adventures and see your photos. Meg:)

      Delete
  7. Oh they're so, so pretty Meg! Thank-you for such a pretty dose of flowery goodness x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome! My garden is filled with flowers, Sarah, because they are so pretty and simply make me happy. It's lovely to share the beauty of flowers on my blog. Meg:)

      Delete
  8. Beautiful simple cheerfulness. Love them.
    Years ago I had some of those daisy plants. They are indeed tough .
    I must find myself some of that bright blue cheerfulness.
    Thanks for sharing
    Alexa-asimplelife visiting from Sydney, Australia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Alexa. These daisy plants are indeed tough. They grow in a hot and drier South-West facing garden bed and I give them very little "attention", yet they cover the ground with these pretty little flowers. You should be able to find "Blue Eyes" at your local nursery as I often see them for sale. Thanks for visiting! Meg:)

      Delete