I had Lamium maculatum 'Anne Greenway'and it didn't do well, I think the problem was either slugs or too much water. I see one of them coming back this year though. I just started some Lanium maculatum 'Purple Dragon' in my front hosta bed. My neighbor has had Lamium maculatum 'White Nancy' surrounding her hostas for years.

As far as Viola labradorica, I've been trying to get rid of it for years. It had pretty much invaded our back lawn and gardens when we purchased the home. I'd never actually pay to have it my garden.

I have Lamium Purple Dragon, Silver Beacon, and Ghost in my beds and love it! It doesn't compete with other plantings at all and it looks really nice, not to mention that I don't have to weed those beds as much!! :-)

I just ordered 30 Silver Beacon plugs to incorporate into another bed. I wouldn't consider anything else.

Em

I have Lamium and it does great. But it's not my first choice.
If it gets too thick or starts wandering where I don't want it, I just grab a handfull and yank!

I personally LOVE Lysimachia numularia 'Aurea' or 'Goldilocks'. They're an ornamental Creeping Jenny. I am careful to not let it near my lawn, but to my knowledge, it doesn't seed, so I just keep the shoots 2-3 feet from my lawn and there's no problem.

{{gwi:225302}}

Wow,Melissa! It's about you posted some pics of your garden. I have creeping jenny also,but it's the green type,not aurea. Phil

Some of my Lysimachia has produced some solid green, so maybe it's like yours, Phil. I love both of them,
the new green and the golds!!

It also makes a nice contrast to our new puppy!

I will say, I had SO MUCH of the gold this year that in the past day or so, I've been thinning it out, which is quite
easy and moving it around to areas where I had none! I felt like I needed sunglasses to go out in my yard,
especially after the rain as in the pix above!

The pot, right of center near the swing has the solid green I dug out and put around my 'Cathedral Windows' and I just love it.
It's slightly larger leaved and really is pretty against hosta with lots of gold in their leaves. I find I do not care for the yellow/gold
lamium with more gold leaved hosta. I feel they need a contrasting color and in such a case the Lamium I use is nice!

And, I LOVE the Lamiums. I think this one is Silver Beacon with the deep pink/purplish blooms:

Excuse the foot in this one:

Edit: I meant to say, I do not care for the yellow/gold Lysimachia next to the gold leaved hostas! Sigh!

Your yards are BEAUTIFUL...Melissa, that's the first that I saw yours, as well! (By the way, I lost your e-mail in a computer crash, would love to catch up with you...the hostas you got me last year are doing GREAT!)

Hey_J, I'm so sorry, but your stunning garden can't compete with that puppy! Adorable! Name? Breed?

I put in a bunch of the golden Creeping Jenny in the fall of 09 only starting with one 4" pot of it which I turned into hundreds of plants and I have been ripping it out by the handfulls this spring as it likes to rise up and climb over my plants.

The dark green version of it is known as Creeping Charlie and is a very invasive weed that chokes out lawns. I think the only difference between Creeping Jenny and Creeping Charlie is that one looks pretty but both are invasive.

Labrador Violets are so pretty in the Spring....I have them popping up all over the place in the garden and don't mind them.

I love the look of groundcovers with hosta, but if you have slugs, then most of the low groundcovers give them excellent hiding places, which is a drawback. I have some creeping Jenny in one bed that I maintain by ripping handfuls out in the Spring and a few times throughout the summer. I like it, but don't want it everywhere. If you don't mind staying on top of it, it's not that hard to control, IMO, but it is an aggressive spreader for sure.

Very cute pup, hey j! Can I ask what kind of vines you grow in the background there and is that mostly shady? I'm looking for some vines for privacy screening that do ok with a fair bit of shade.

The pup is 'Callie' and she's a 5 month-old Standard Poodle that will most likely turn out to be what they call a 'blue' which is a steel-gray!

The vines on the trellis fencing is Virginia Creeper and is fairly aggresive in my garden, but nothing I don't like or can't control if I want to!
I love it and in the Fall it becomes bright red and orange!

I don't mean to be disagreeable but Creeping Charlie is a different plant than Creeping Jenny even if it's green! I have both! :o)

Apparently the yellow version is named Lysimachia mummularia "Aurea" the lime green to yellow Golden Creeping Jenny and the darker
is as shown in the link below! :o)

I like the purplish flowers on the Creeping Charlie and it's easy enough to pull out of the areas it creeps unwanted! So far, I'm very
fortunate (even blessed maybe) that even the English Ivy hasn't gotten out of hand!

janice

Here is a link that might be useful: Darker Green 'Jenny'

franknjim.... Creeping Charlie is an entirely different plant.
There is green creeping jenny. Looks just like mine, but is green rather than gold.

This is creeping charlie:

Either way, you shouldn't ever let Creeping Jenny get near your lawns. Every 2-4 weeks, I go and grab a handfull if it's getting too close to my lawn for my comfort.

Mary... I'm sorry, I do not remember you. Where did we meet?

Yes, if I let Creeping Jenny tumble over the rock wall into the lawn, I find it vey hard to remove. Its easy enough to pull out in the garden bed, but not the lawn.

This is hysterical--the link below, is a site where you can bid on 'Creeping Charlie' as a hanging plant.
You can see the plant up close though, so take a look!

Here is a link that might be useful: Get your 'Creeping Charlie' right here!

I have lamium that I use for ground cover, edging and containers. My favorites are Purple Dragon, mentioned earlier, and Herman's pride. Herman's pride is clump forming, has nice yellow blooms in spring. After blooming, I sheer it back and it gets nice new silvery folliage. Therefore, it makes a nice companion for hosta edges emerging with yellow margins that turn white later in the season - very nice in my garden with what I think is Areomarginata Fortunei and Wide Brim.

I also use golden creeping jenny, in one spot. I have to moniter it carefully. But like lamium purple dragon, I can dig up patches of it in the spring and use it in container gardens.

I have tried Chequers - don't like it, it runs and doesn't fill in to keep weeds out. Also, I have tried White Nancy, the flowers are unremarkable and turn brown quickly in my garden. White Nancy grows more slowly which can be a plus or a minus.

I am currently trying to use a couple of sedums as ground cover/edging. I don't even know what variety they are.

Will try to get pictures

Beverly