in your region, the thymes are perennial, as is the prostrate Chamomile. most of the sedums can take shade, though not much foot traffic...

you might want to browse the steppables.com site for recommendations :)

Hi Jennilee,

For shade you might want to try one of the Ajuga's. They spread easily and would tolerate light to moderate foot traffic. Or, to lighten up the area, I'd recommend Lamium 'Pink Pewter'. It has light green and white leaves and lovely soft pink flowers. It wouldn't be harmed by light foot traffic--it might get a little bit smooshed down looking for a while after being stepped on, but should perk back up again. Here's a link to 'Pink Pewter' on perennials.com. To see some of the ajuga's, just type ajuga in the #2 search box and then click on the result to see a bunch of different ones.

Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: Lamium 'Pink Pewter'

Similar question -- shady groundcover suggestions needed --

My parameters and wish list are:

*Zone 15 (Northern California)
*Dense shade and partial shade
*For patio border-beds (two long strips, each about 3' wide and 15' - 20' long, ground level)
*Perennial or evergreen
*Flowers optional but highly desirable
*No vinca (roots too invasive)
*Height 4" - 12"
*Not desirable to snails and slugs either as food or shelter (major problem here)
*Moderate/average watering, but tolerant of occasional over-watering (since I hose off the patio and the water flows directly into these border-beds)

Also, when I hose the brick patio, leaves and other debris flow into the border-beds, and it would be helpful if the groundcover would swallow up the debris rather than be buried by it.

Plants currently in the border-beds include various types of ferns, azaleas, and a climbing star jasmine.

I'm considering campanula muralis, but I've heard snails/slugs like it. (Can anybody confirm this?) I could use star jasmine as ground cover and keep it trimmed short, but I have a lot of climbing jasmine on the patio already (overhead, climbing walls and trellises, etc).

I have some purple-flowered ajugas in another shady area, but I'd like something different/denser/higher for these two borders.

Any ideas will be appreciated.

I, too, have been looking for a full/partial shade ground cover and am now considering waldsteinia fragariodes. Has anyone had experience with this and perhaps direct me to a source for seed or plants. Note: see on page 1058 of American Hort. A-Z.

Have you ever considered a succulent called Red Apple? I have it growing in both sun and shade and it is doing very well. It is tough and hardy and easy to trim. And almost guarenteed to grow anywhere you plant it. We have it here all over the place. One neighbor even has it growing up a trellis fence and it looks great!!

I love red apple! I planted 3 areas; 2 in full sun in the ground, and 1 in a pot also in full sun. The ones in the ground are doing better than the potted one, I think because the pot retains more moisture. They took a little while to catch hold, but now they are gorgeous and blooming. Another that likes full sun to light shade is moss rose. They spread like gangbusters, and never seem to grow taller than a few inches, and with many different color blooms.

I have Creeping Jenny and it's really pretty.