Bigroot Cranesbill

This durable cranesbill is a joy to grow. It requires little from the gardener yet delivers beauty and performance all year.

Large, felted, citrus-scented leaves form a billowing two-foot-wide patch dense enough to suppress weeds. ‘Bevan’s Variety’ (Geranium macrorrhizum) produces vivid magenta purple flowers that attract pollinating bees and butterflies in late spring to early summer.

Once established, its thick, fleshy roots make this Zone 4 through 9 hardy perennial drought tolerant. Use it around the base of large shrubs or tall trees, or try planting it en masse to fill large expanses in the landscape in full sun to part shade. There’s no need to worry about deer or rabbit damage with this fragrant, fuzzy-leaved perennial. Here are a few short perennial flowers for smaller gardens.

Ground Cover Roses

Ground cover roses are a wonderful way to bring a bright splash of color to open landscapes and rambling hillsides all summer long. They deliver as much flower power as annuals while returning reliably every year in Zones 4 through 11.

Most ground cover roses bear single flowers that attract pollinators. They bloom in shades of pink, red, coral, yellow and white. Pictured here is Pink Drift, a disease-resistant, everblooming variety that grows 18 inches tall and three feet wide.

Roses grow best in an area that receives at least eight hours of sun per day, mostly in the afternoon. Water them with drip irrigation if possible to avoid wetting the foliage. If you must use overhead watering, do so in the morning to allow plenty of time for the foliage to dry before sundown.

Chokeberry

Look for low, spreading forms of chokeberry (Aronia) — including Ground Hug, pictured here — to transform dry, sunny borders or slopes into beautiful, easy-to-maintain plantings. Although it’s deciduous, this shrub grows dense enough to block out weeds and eliminate the need for mulch. Each plant covers about three square feet.

Clusters of tiny white flowers attract pollinating bees in the spring, then transform into near-black berries that birds enjoy in late summer. Its glossy, green foliage turns brilliant shades of orange, red and purple in the fall.

Chokeberry is an adaptable native shrub. In Zones 3 through 9, it will grow in just about any soil, whether wet, dry, salty, organically rich or rocky. It tolerates full sun and part shade.

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