Mine gets burned in full sun. I used to have a large shade tree but lost it a few years ago. It thrives in shade.

For full sun, try a sedum. My pachysandra in the sun experiment didn't work--they all burned and withered. This was despite watering.

I have a full sun sidewalk/street strip that I was having trouble with and then I planted some Chrysanthemum Pacificum -- IT LOVED IT!!

This is a great plant, everygreen, nice leaves that actually give you a Pachysandra effect. They have a nice silver edging and there are mounds of small yellow button blooms in the fall.

I started out with just a couple of plants and between it's natural spreading tendency and propagation through cuttings (which is really easy). It's now fills up the whole strip.

They stay small, about 12", older plants can get leggy, so just go in and cut back if needed in the spring (and root the cuttings for neighbors), when older plants get really woody and leggy, I just rip them out, rework the soil, and new shoots will readily fill back in. Don't let them get leggy though, but I've even gone through in the spring and just mowed the strip with my mower on high, it bounced back, bushier than ever in a couple of weeks.

I can't say enough good things about this as a sunny groundcover.

Thanks for the tips. I will try the chrys or sedum. I also have a lot of periwinkle which does well around trees on the property but I've a feeling that will also shy away from such a hot area.