A great solution for hot summers, low-growing ground cover plants act as living mulch to lock moisture into the soil and protect roots from extreme temperatures. And groundcover doesn’t have to be boring! These lovely flowering ground plants will bring months of beautiful blooms to the border and keep your garden full of color in autumn.
If it’s been a while since you looked ground cover plantsyou’ll be surprised to discover some dazzling new varieties that combine all the benefits of traditional ground cover with the ornamental delights usually only seen on much taller plants. There’s even a ground cover hydrangea for good measure!
So forget the usual fodder of the forgotten groundcover and try a showstopper. Here’s my pick of the most stunning groundcover plants to keep your soil cool and your borders full of blooms in autumn.
1. Groundbreaker Hydrangea For a Sea of Blooms
(Image credit: Harries Plantdesign GmbH & Co. KG)
- Zones 5-8
- Full sun to partial shade
- Grows 12-16″ tall and 24-32″ wide
Let’s start with the plant most likely to cause serious neighbor envy, shall we? Because if you plant this carpet of color-changing hydrangea flowers, expect everyone to be asking what they are! The wonderful new range of Groundbreaker hydrangeas brings all its beauty perennial blooms we all know and love down to ground level. The world’s first spreading ground hydrangea, this plant grows rather than grows, reaching only 12-16 inches tall but spreading up to 32 inches wide. The well-branched stems mean many cone-shaped flowers and the flowering period lasts 100 days.
Launched two years ago, Groundbreaker hydrangeas only became available for purchase in the United States in July 2026 and are proving extremely popular. And no wonder: growing panic hydrangeas it’s simple at first, but these have been bred to be particularly low maintenance.
So if you want one you better be quick as these beautiful ones hydrangeas they sell out quickly. At the time of writing, all three varieties of Groundbreaker hydrangea are available from Plant Addicts. Groundbreaker Blush Hydrangea it has large white flowers in midsummer that gradually develop pink blush tones. Innovative Ruby Hydrangea it also blooms white but its flowers deepen to a rich ruby red, while Groundbreaker Greeny Hydrangea it reverses with florals opening a bright lime green and then gradually softens to a creamy white.
2. Drift Rose For Three-Season Color
(Image credit: Getty Images)
- Zones 4-11
- Full sun to partial shade
- Grows 1-2′ tall and 3′ wide
The Drift line of roses is a full size cross ground cover roses and miniature roses, so while they’ll bring plenty of color to a border, they won’t overpower them. These flowers produce billowing waves of blooms from spring to late fall and are self-cleaning, meaning you don’t have to break out. They are also extremely easy to care for as they are highly resistant to common rose problems including black spot and powdery mildew.
There are all great colors to choose from and some have transitional tones. In fact, the only downside to these low-maintenance roses is that they have only a mild fragrance or no fragrance at all.
Nature Hills has a wide variety of Drift roses. Popcorn Drift blooms a golden yellow and turns to cream, while Coral Drift, Peach Drift and Apricot Drift they also have flowers that change color in a variety of warm tones. Sweet Drift is a charming pink with about 30 petals on each flower, while Pink Drift has simple single blooms that are better for pollinators. Red Drift it keeps its bright red color even in a hot summer.
3. Blue Waterfall Bellflower for a designer look
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
- Zones 4-8
- Part to full sun
- Grows 6-10″ tall and 24-36″ wide
There are many good things to say about this beautiful plant, but perhaps its best asset is that it is often used by landscape designers, so it instantly brings a professional look. While Bluebell poscharskyana ‘Camgood’ is usually housed in a pot or hanging basket.
And this little perennial is sure to turn heads with its star-shaped, ice-blue flowers that last from summer to fall.
Although this perennial grows quickly, it doesn’t get out of control and thrives in almost any soil as long as it gets at least 5 hours of sunlight a day. The small, bright green, heart-shaped leaves are also extremely beautiful. Blue Waterfall Bellflower plants are available from Plant Addicts.
4. Firewitch Dianthus For a Small Garden
(Image credit: Getty Images)
- Zones 3-9
- Full sun
- Grows 4-8″ tall and 1′ wide
Yes, even small gardens need ground cover! Fire witch dianthus makes excellent ground cover in a small garden as it is incredibly well behaved but works hard to form a dense weed-blocking mat of beautiful silver-blue leaves. With a wave of pink flowers all spring and summer – and fall, if you cut off faded blooms – Dianthus Gratianopolitanus developed to give maximum color for minimum effort.
Plus, the flowers’ spicy, clove-like scent is a wonderful addition to hot summer days, while the foliage is evergreen in most climates.
Each plant spreads about a foot wide, so depending on the size of your border, you’ll need to add a few, single and multipack Firewitch Dianthus plants are available from Fast Growing Trees.
5. Silver sun lily for wavy leaves
(Image credit: Getty Images)
- Zones 6-11
- Partial shade
- Grows 1-2′ tall and wide
This diverse monkey grass it forms clumps rather than spreading, so it is an excellent ground cover to underplant a border of larger perennials or shrubs where controlling a more vigorous plant would be difficult. This drought-tolerant plant can even cope with dry shade once established, so it won’t mind the fact that trees and shrubs suck up most of the moisture from the soil.
The striped leaves are evergreen in most climates and, in mid-summer, the purple flower spikes add to the show and last until autumn. Liriopi ‘Silvery Sunproof’ plants are available from Nature Hillsand they’re pollution tolerant, so they’ll thrive on the roadside, and it’s even Firewise rated in many states. While monkey grass usually needs partial shade to thrive, this variety tolerates sunlight much better than most others.
6. Cool Wave Pansies For Instant Cheer
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
- All zones
- Full sun or partial shade
- 6-8″ tall and 24-30″ wide
These little gems brighten up a tired border and don’t be fooled by the sleek, delicate look – they’re tough cookies and bloom for months. In fact, this is one of the longest-lived pansies around. While pansies commonly planted in pots and hanging baskets, this is a trailing variety that spreads to form a ground cover in a border and quickly but kindly fills in the gaps between larger perennials. Pansies can be planted in the summer in zones up to 9, so put this on your July garden to-do list.
How Cool Wave pansies behave will depend on your climate, but they are a great way to bridge the gap between summer and fall in all zones. In zones 5 to 11 they will survive the winter: in zones 5-6, they are dormant during the winter but bounce back in the spring. In zones 7-9, they will bloom almost continuously in all four seasons. in zones 10-11, wait for intense summer heat to pass before planting for endless cool-season flowers. In cooler zones 4 and below, treat these beauties as annuals and replant each spring.
Pansies prefer cooler conditions and wilt in warm temperatures, so in a warmer zone, plant in a partially shaded spot that doesn’t bake in the midday sun. in cooler zones, it is fine in full sun.
Pansies can be difficult to grow from seed, so it’s best to go straight to the good patch with young plants. Cool Wave Morpho pansy plants are available from Burpee in a striking combination of purple-blue and yellow, and the color intensifies as the temperatures drop. Cool Wave Raspberry Swirl pansy plants are also available from Burpeewith a beautiful mix of pink, golden hues.
7. SunSparkler Dazzling Dynamite Sedum for low maintenance
(Image credit: Future/AI)
- Zones 4-9
- Full sun
- Grows 4-8″ tall and 1-2″ wide
If you want to add color to a border without increasing the workload, Sedum ‘Dazzling Dynamite’ should be your go-to solution. This well-behaved, low-growing perennial is extremely heat and drought tolerant once established, and while pollinators love it, deer usually won’t touch it. This burgundy-red foliage is vibrant enough on its own, but when topped with bright pink flowers during summer and fall, SunSparkler Dazzling Dynamite Sedum is a real show-stopper.
Unlike some sedum that fade in the heat of summer, this keeps its color well and Dazzling dynamite plants are available from Nature Hills. The succulent leaves slowly spread out to form a dense mat, even in poor soil, making this one of the most low-maintenance ground cover plants you can get.
