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Evergreen, Ornamental Plant for Beginners: Baby’s Tears

October 24th, 2011

Baby’s Tears or Soleirolia Soleirolii is an evergreen and low growing ground cover known for its round cascading leaves. A good candidate for a beginner’s must-have list, Baby’s Tears can be grown as a maintenance-free hanging basket or pot plant. When confined in containers or hanging baskets, this vigorous grower would soon outgrow its container and form dense mound of fresh-green and delicate leaves. These attractive plants can be grown indoors at shady spots or near bright sunlit windows or patios.

Baby's Tars, Soleirolia Soleirolii

Baby's Tars, Soleirolia Soleirolii

Baby’s Tear is equally good for rock gardens and landscapes where it can easily take up empty spaces and form thick mounds of attractive foliage. It can also be used as alternate of grass because it would survive cold and shady spots easily and serve as nice ground cover throughout the year. When grown with other plants, Baby’s Tears proves to be a bad neighbor as it tends to cover and take up the space of surrounding plants very soon. Therefore it should be pruned back regularly to keep this vigorous grower under control.

How to grow Baby’s Tears

Native to parts of Europe and some Mediterranean climates, Bab’s Tears grows easily in almost all parts of the world. It is easy to grow, in fact, difficult to kill plant. You can grow it under shade as well as under sun. The plant requires moist soil all the time and performs well is a well-drained, sandy or boggy soil. Baby’s Tears can be propagated easily from divisions. Water it regularly and protect from long dry spells.

Soleirolia Soleirolii is also known as Mind-Your-Own-Business or Angel’s Tears.

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Posted in Creepers, Evergreen, Foliage Plant, Ground Cover, Indoor, Outdoor, Perennials, Zone 10a, Zone 10b, Zone 11

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Creeping Fig Vine: Love it or Hate it?

October 18th, 2011

I have kind of love and hate relation with Creeping Fig. I love for its quick and creeping growth (good for quick results) and I hate it because when it outgrows my pruning efforts to cover almost all kinds of surfaces or objects.

Ficus Pumila or Creeping Fig is a fast growing, in fact, vigorous growing creeper which is suitable for many purposes: quick growing ground cover, evergreen creeper to cover walls and trellis, thickly leaves vine for hanging pots, nice woody and leafy plant for topiaries, and for many other purposes.

creeping fig vine

Creeping fig grows rapidly and creeps up almost all surfaces and objects via its aerial roots. Stem is covered with dense foliage which is bright green to dark green depending on light condition. Native to eastern Asia, Creeping Fig is widely under cultivation is most climates (except very cold or freezing environments). The plant requires consistently moist soil and grows well in ground as well as in containers. Older plants tend to form hard woody stem, however, new branches are quite easy to prune or train.

Cutting root quickly and are the easiest way to propagate Creeping Fig. Take cuttings in spring and plant them in a regular potting mix. Keep them under partial sunlight until new growth is visible.

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Posted in Creepers, Evergreen, Foliage Plant, Zone 10a, Zone 10b, Zone 11, Zone 7a, Zone 7b, Zone 8a, Zone 8b, Zone 9a, Zone 9b

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Ornamental Flowering Plant for Gardens: Torenia Fournieri

September 14th, 2011

Whether you are a beginner or a master gardener, you just cannot resist Torenia in your garden for its beautiful flowers and versatile usage. It is an excellent choice for hanging baskets and window gardens, as ground cover or as trailing plant in landscape borders, raised beds or indoor containers.

Torenia forms tender branches of usually 6 inches that can trail up to 30 inches which makes it a good plant for hanging baskets. Native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa, most species of Torenia require humid and moist conditions to thrive. These herbaceous plants are grown for their unusual flowers that are commonly known wishbone flowers. Each flower has a unique wishbone shape. These beautiful flowers come in purple, violet, pink, white and yellow colors.

Torenia, Wishbone Flowers

Torenia, Wishbone Flowers, Image by Kelly Teague

How to Grow Torenia Fournieri

Torenia has a lot of hybrid varieties and cultivars that grow as annuals (though some of them are perennials). These plants are best grown under partial shade in a fertile soil. Provide your Torenia plants with regular watering and do not allow the soil to dry out completely for long periods.

Torenia are easy to grow both from seeds or cuttings. Regularly pinch back Torenia to keep these plants in shape.

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Posted in Annuals, Creepers, Flowers, Ground Cover, Herbaceous, Indoor, Perennials

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Fast Growing, Ornamental Ground Cover: Ajuga Reptans

August 28th, 2011

Ajuga Reptans or Carpet Bugleweed is a quick solution if you are looking for a plant to cover wide empty spaces, beds or bare soil. As a vigorous growing groundcover, it would readily cover the ground to form a low growing thick mat of dark green or coppery leaves. Ajuga Reptans can also be used to control soil erosion as it spreads quickly via runners and grows almost in any type of soil with good drainage.

Ajuga Reptans Groundcover

Ajuga Reptans Groundcover, Image from wikipedia

Grown as ornamental groundcover, Ajuga Reptans is good for beds as well as landscapes where it provides a glossy dense mat of leaves and produces attractive flowers of blue or purple colors. Flowers grow on small stalks (up to 6 inches). These conspicuous flowers make a spectacular show in spring till midsummer. Ajuga Reptans can also be grown under tree or combined with shrubs in landscapes for a dramatic effect in flowering season. Rich in nectar, flowers of Ajuga Reptans attract birds, bees and butterflies.

How to Grow Ajuga Reptans

Ajuga Reptans is native to Europe and parts of Asia and Australia. It can be grown under shade or sun with regular watering. It does not have any special soil needs and grows in almost any soil with good water drainage. Propagation is done from softwood cuttings.

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Posted in Creepers, Evergreen, Flowers, Foliage Plant, Ground Cover, Outdoor, Perennials, Zone 3a, Zone 3b, Zone 4a, Zone 4b, Zone 5a, Zone 5b, Zone 6a, Zone 6b, Zone 7a, Zone 7b, Zone 8a, Zone 8b, Zone 9a, Zone 9b

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Fast Growing Ornamental Groundcover: Duchesnea Indica

August 22nd, 2011

Duchesnea Indica is a quick growing, ornamental plant that spreads quickly to serve as a good groundcover. Popularly known as Indian Strawberry or Mock Strawberry, Duchesnea Indica bears ornamental foliage and fruit – both resemble the foliage and fruit of real strawberry plants, however the fruit of Mock Strawberry is quite tasteless.

Duchesnea Indica grows natively in south Asia and parts of eastern Asia as a low growing perennial. The plant has been acclimatized in many parts of the worlds where it is grown as ornamental houseplant. Suitable as groundcover, for container gardening and window gardens, these low growing plants do not require special care. In fact, they can withstand neglect.

Duchesnea Indica, Mock Strawberry, Indian Strawberry

Duchesnea Indica, Image by Shihmei Barger

How to Grow Duchesnea Indica

Mock Strawberry can be grown easily from divisions or seeds as evergreen groundcover. It requires full to partial sun and tolerates drought and frost – a good choice for xeriscaping. Duchesnea Indica self-seeds in favorable conditions and becoming quite invasive.

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Posted in Container Garden, Creepers, Drought Tolerant Plants, Evergreen, Foliage Plant, Outdoor, Perennials, Zone 5a, Zone 5b, Zone 6a, Zone 6b, Zone 7a, Zone 8a, Zone 8b, Zone 9a, Zone 9b

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