Ground covers with bulbs

Meg, Keep in mind that it would take a bit more sun up here than it does for rcn.
Dave

Ooh, I like it! Thanks for the tip! That would look nice combined with the mazus, I think. Now I have to see if I can find somewhere where they sell it smaller and cheaper, so I can get a few...
Again I ask, like for all the other plants in question, do you think bulbs can come up through it? or is it not exactly a ground cover?

Anita, be careful with Plant Delights' website, you can get into some serious trouble there - "been there, done that" :)

Meg, if I'm interpreting your question right, the tulips would have bloomed and started dying back before the Polemonium would have any size. My experience in the Northeast with the good old fashioned Polemonium reptans was that it usually wouldn't bloom until mid-June, so it would be a perfect companion to tulips whose blooms should be gone by the first of June.

Going back and reading this thread from the beginning reminded me that we have daylilies planted with our tulips and daffodils - duh!!! Never even thought of it when everyone was talking about "groundcovers" - but Dave and Andy both mentioned daylilies above - they are a perfect foil for the tulips and/or daffodils, because the emerging foliage just adds more green to the bed and as the foliage of the daylilies fills in, it masks the dying foliage of the tulips!

Boy, I'm thinking I REALLY need to take more pictures this year! It's one thing to capture a great plant in bloom, but all these questions have me thinking it's not a bad idea to capture the actual progression in the garden as well, with or without the flowers.

For shade you could use epimedium--it even stays mostly evergreen for me all year. Laboridorica violets form a nice mat of burgundy leaves also.
Another evergreen is asarum europeaum-european ginger, it has shiny rounded leaves and stays evergreen all year.
I plant hostas near my bulbs and as the bulb foliage is looking ratty, the hostas are looking great. I also like to plant dicentra spectabilis near bulbs because the foliage stays nice 'til mid summer--hides the bulb foliage somewhat.
Dicentra 'goldheart' stays nice 'til fall for me.

Hi Kathie..

I just added all of those to my shade bed and can't wait to see what it looks like this spring.

:-)