6 Dependable Ground Covers for Warm Climates

Gardening in warm regions brings challenges: hot summers, dry shade, heavy rains, droughts, and soils from pure sand to impenetrable clay and soggy muck. Yet there's a suitable ground cover for every condition. These six give your garden a visual resting place—and you a little more rest, thanks to their undemanding nature.

Some listed plants also work as shrubs or specimens, but they're too useful to overlook as ground covers. Firecracker plant is often a shrub, but its delicate arching stems cover ground without blocking views. Cinnamon ginger runs taller unchecked but forms a weed-suppressing tall ground cover that pairs beautifully with shorter types like lilyturf.

Speckled Cast Iron Plant

(Aspidistra sichuanensis 'Ginga', syn. 'Milky Way')

A small, speckled relative of cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior, zones 7b–11), often sold as 'Milky Way'. Honestly, almost any Aspidistra works well as a ground cover. This one is short enough for a lawn substitute, attractively spotted, and readily available.

Maintenance: occasional dead leaf removal and division every few years—not that you need to; they're so beautiful you'll want to spread them around.

• Zones: 7b–11 (evergreen)
• Water: Low to average; well-drained soil
• Light: Full shade to partial sun
• Size: 1 foot tall, 2 feet wide
• Interest: Inconspicuous flowers; evergreen foliage year-round
• Plant: Spring to fall

Bulbine

(Bulbine frutescens 'Hallmark')

Drought tolerance of a succulent, grassy texture of turfgrass, and bright orange flower spikes. Plant this South African native as a foil for coarser plants, at bed edges, or along paths where waving orange stalks attract honeybees and butterflies. 'Hallmark' reseeds less and is easier to find.

Mostly maintenance-free but benefits from mulching, deadheading, and division in spring or fall. In extreme heat/sun/dry, may need extra irrigation or shade until fall rebloom.

• Hardiness: 20°F (zones 9–11); resprouts in zone 8
• Water: Low; well-drained soil
• Light: Partial to full sun
• Size: 1–2 feet tall, forming 2–3 foot clumps
• Interest: Orange flowers spring and fall, sometimes summer and winter
• Plant: Spring to fall

Cinnamon Ginger

(Alpinia nutans)

If your garden is too soggy or shady for other ground covers, you'll love this. Also called false cardamom ginger, it resembles a dwarf shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet, zones 9–11) but with an amazing cinnamon scent when leaves are crushed or brushed. Use as ground cover or accent in shade gardens for a lush tropical look.

Slow growth allows trimming taller stems every couple years to keep it short, or let it reach 4 feet as a tall ground cover to witness rare porcelain flowers.

• Hardiness: Evergreen to 25°F (zones 9b–11); resprouts in 7b–11
• Water: Average; tolerates standing water and drought once established
• Light: Full shade to partial sun
• Size: 3–4 feet tall, 4–5 feet wide
• Interest: Rare white and orange shell-shaped flowers; grown for lush foliage
• Plant: Spring to fall

Society Garlic

(Tulbaghia violacea)

Edible garlic-flavored purple flowers on a drought-tolerant grassy ground cover—why not replace your lawn? Struggling colonies survive in parking medians and hell strips, but respond well to regular water and occasional fertilizer, forming a weed-suppressing cover in a couple years.

The big blue and white flowers overhead in the photo are lily of the Nile (Agapanthus africanus, zones 7–11)—great companion since both bloom together, are South African, and share conditions. Add yellow bulbine (Bulbine frutescens, zones 9–11) for an even more impressive display.

• Hardiness: 20°F (zones 9–11); resprouts in zone 7
• Water: Low; well-drained soil
• Light: Partial to full sun
• Size: 1–2 feet tall and wide
• Interest: Purple flowers spring and summer, occasionally fall and winter
• Plant: Spring to fall

Lilyturf

(Liriope 'Evergreen Giant')

Common worldwide because it gives the eye a resting place like turf grass without the maintenance. Trim twice yearly: late winter before new growth, and fall to remove spent purple bloom stalks and ripening berries. Skipping pruning isn't disastrous—forms an even denser deep green mass yearly.

Clumping types like this aren't considered invasive. Liriope spicata (creeping) spreads rapidly via runners and is considered invasive by some—but so are turfgrasses like St. Augustine. Note: Liriope is often confused with mondo grass (Ophiopogon, zones 5–11); neither is a true grass.

• Hardiness: 20°F (zones 9–11); resprouts in zone 7
• Water: Low
• Light: Partial to full sun
• Size: 1–2 feet tall and wide
• Interest: Purple flowers spring and summer, occasionally fall and winter
• Plant: Spring to fall

Firecracker Plant

(Russelia equisetiformis)

A bit more unkempt than others, but its airy, transparent demeanor prevents visual obtrusiveness. Ideal for slopes or retaining walls where billowing delicate stems arch downward in a waterfall of tubular red flowers hummingbirds can't resist.

Drought-tolerant enough for the American Southwest. Little maintenance beyond pruning errant stems, especially if planted several feet from paths. Long wispy stems shine among architectural plants like agave and crinum; can be trained against walls and trellises in small spaces.

• Hardiness: 20°F (zones 9–11); resprouts in zone 8b
• Water: Low
• Light: Partial to full sun
• Size: Feathery stems form a mass up to 3 feet tall
• Interest: Red tubular flowers spring through fall, sometimes winter
• Plant: Spring to fall