The perfect perennial for spring interest in the shade garden. Finely dissected green leaves have dramatic dark burgundy centers and form a rounded, clumping habit. Creamy bottlebrush-like flowers.

A dependable, hard working selection, this plant is a perfect shade groundcover that adds attractive maple-like foliage and terrific spring bloom that really brightens and enhances darker areas. Flower spikes form in late April and open in early May covered with foamy white, lightly fragrant flowers through the month and into June.

‘Running Tapestry’ may be a tough, easy care plant but this aggressively growing groundcover also brings a beautiful, refined look to a shaded or partially shaded area. Heart shaped foliage crowds onto dense, short, spreading plants carrying a pleasing green color, offset by speckled red veining and a red central leaf area. This foliage forms a dense carpet that gives rise to numerous flower stalks that carry profuse, small, white blooms above the plant from late April into June. These flowers are an abundant nectar source for beneficial native bees and insects while providing instant light to a landscape’s darker spots. Plant ‘Running Tapestry’ in groups and enjoy the foliage and flower show.

Superb foliage combines with heavy spring bloom and a landscape toughness that belies its beauty. ‘Sugar and Spice’ emerges in the spring with a mound of glossy green leaves with a prominent maroon to burgundy central blotch. In May, countless stalks rise above the foliage bearing small white flowers that form a cloud above the plant that lasts well into June. Perfect for massing and for shady areas!

Outstanding form and foliage are the calling card of this shade loving perennial. It’s a beauty that forms a tight, rounded mound made up of deeply scalloped foliage that features a deep burgundy leaf center surrounded by bright green on the rest of the leaf. The result is very showy especially in early May when short spike rise above the foliage bearing clouds of creamy white mini bell flowers that persist into early summer.

Think of all the good things that English Thyme brings to the table….its fragrant foliage, easy grow nature and multiple culinary uses and you have all the good traits of ‘Little Cutie’ except the smaller package. That’s right,’Little Cutie’ has the added bonus of being a shorter, denser spreading plant making it perfect for use in containers, smaller garden spaces or even for use as an edging plant in a formal herb garden. Along with being easy to dry, ‘Little Cutie’ will add outstanding flavor to lamb, poultry and tomatoes along with being indispensible in soups, stews and stocks.

A superb perennial herb that is one of the backbones of any herb garden. Widely used as a seasoning for most any dish. English thyme loves full sun and well-drained soil and will even tolerate poor soils. Low and spreading with lilac-purple summer flowers that bees love! Perennial.

Caborn Wine & Roses Thyme is a ground hugging selection with dark, fragrant leaves that slowly spread. Small flowers bloom in summer and can nearly cover the foliage, creating a carpet of pink and red. Its creeping form will fill cracks in a rock garden or edge a mixed bed of other herbs or flowering plants. Thyme is a wonderful seasoning in most savory dishes. It is one of the fragrant herbs used in French cooking as well as many soups, stews and poultry dishes. A medicinal thyme tea is helpful for flatulence, headache, and painful menstruation. Snip the leaves and stems with scissors as needed, and dry them in shade with good ventilation (see Sara’s Sage Advice handbook for recipes and drying instructions).

A textural masterpiece, wooly thyme is the perfect perennial landscape groundcover with its flat growth and spreading habit. Silvery-gray, wooly foliage is just so touchable and is a perfect plant for patio and stepping stone use. Stepping on its teeny, fuzzy foliage releases a strong, pleasant thyme scent that enlivens the garden with its aroma. Wooly thyme is easy to grow, loves full sun, grows well in containers and its foliage can be used for a variety of herbal uses from potpourris to aromatherapy.

There’s a lot to love about this mounding, spreading groundcover. Its form is perfect for grouping in a mass planting, it loves to grow around and between pavers, its fine textured foliage fills the air with fragrance, and it erupts into a carpet of deep purple bloom in the late spring. Best of all, ‘Purple Carpet’ will make you look like a landscape pro without even trying since it is so easy to grow.