Dainty flowers amid cascading foliage lends its gentle presence to the moist woodland garden in early spring.
Sometimes evergreen in southern states, bronze red new growth develops into a rich green mound of heartshaped leaves in summer and fall.
Keep these close for easy viewing in mass plantings, rock gardens, and edgings. Divide in spring, after plants have leafed out and flowered.
Barrenworts prefer a humus rich, moist soil, but are quite adaptable and will tolerate dry periods once they're established.
Asarum (Ginger)
Heart-shaped green leaves become a quiet attraction in the humus rich woodland garden when used in masse. Flowers, usually red to brown in the spring, are borne under the foliage and are not noticeable unless looked for. Rhizomes have a ginger fragrance.
Ginger can be slow to become established and fill in, but well worth the wait! European Ginger (pictured) has glossy, bright, evergreen leaves that form a neat, small mound; excellent rock garden or ground cover
Hosta
Hosta species have different types of growth patterns. Several have rhizomes (undeerground stems) that allow the plant to spread out into a "ground cover " pattern. This photo, H. 'Stiletto' is a good example. Planted 12 to 15 inches apart it soon fills in between the plants for a solid cover. Other listed in the Hosta sections are also rhizomatous for a similar effect.
