I have lots of it around some of mine, Melissa. It looks good with almost any one of them - mine is thick around 'Touch of Class' and 'Blue Angel' with some deep purple Huechera close by. I promise I'll post a pic within the next few days - finally snapped a few today and need to download. Jenny doesn't choke - at least in my part of the world, which is Northern Illinois. I also had it in Minneapolis when I lived there.

Westy

PS Jenny becomes more yellow in sun and stays lime green in shade. It grows anywhere.

I thought creeping Jenny was a weed??? Please educate me!

Char

highly invasive...

and i found it a magnet for slugs and rodents .. chippies and mice/voles ...

i would leave the fire pit natural ... a monthly shot of roundup .. or simply repeated fires.. will keep the grass and weeds at bay ... IMHO.. natural is always better ...

and hence i never use colored mulch either.. but that is in the eye of the beholder ....

good luck

ken

Each spring I keep an eye on where my CJ is running. I find it across the eyes of the Hosta and re-direct. I have never noticed it "choking" out any of my other shade plants. I love it when it blooms. I can walk on it with no problem. I can't dispute any of Ken's warnings, but I have not found any of the "negatives" to be a problem either. Chippies and slugs are part of a shade garden. The neighbors dog chasing the chippies I could do with out!

Creeping Charlie is invasive, but not Creeping Jenny (lismachia aurea).... at least not here in Minnesota. I killed the grass on a steep hill and planted hostas. My Jenny is not moving fast enough! It does not keep out sprouting dandelions. You'll still have to dig those out by hand.

Char your thinking of Creeping Charlie which is an invasive weed.
Creeping Jenny is a very useful perennial.
Can be trimmed, placed in pots and accent plants.
True in the shade it will go darker. But given enough water and sunlight it will be a staple to anchor plants.

Paired with varigated hosta's and dark heucheras it stands out. Likes and preforms well with lots of watering.

Anyone have a pic of creeping jenny? I'm not familiar with it.

Thanks, Donna

I have creeping jenny growing in one of my beds, and love how it just weaves through the plants. Never seems to choke them out.

Creeping charlie on the other hand (which is called creeping jenny quite often here in Wisconsin) loves to choke out my plants. I have a hard time getting rid of it. Have tried just about everything, and just when I get mine controlled it creeps over from my neighbord's weed bed they call a yard.

Here's a pic of my front bed which is about to be completely dug up and changed. The only thing I'm leaving will be the creeping jenny.
Oh, and not only didn't I plant this here, I didn't even buy the original plant. It was in a pot with some impatiens up on the steps. It has moved in and I am good with it there.

Annette

As you can tell from the variety of responses to this, I guess it depends on your definition of "invasive"

I would say that yes, absolutely, it is invasive! But I like it, and I find it easy to control. As someone said, it looks brighter and better the more sun it gets, turning to a plain ole' green in full shade and not growing well at all in dense shade.

Here's mine in front of a row of Hyacinthina. The contrast is very nice from a distance. It does not grow at all under the canopy of the hostas, so it does not invade their space in any way. And around the edges, you can see where I trim it with a weed eater that I use each time I mow the yard - it's just like trimming grass, so it's no extra trouble!

And finally, if push comes to shove, it is exquisitely sensitive to weed killer! ;-)

{{gwi:1049472}}

KN

I'm in MN too....mine's not invasive in the least but it sure is hardy!! I have moved it quite a few times and even had to pull a bunch out when doing some work (it pulls up easily). It came back the following year. Mine is in full shade though which might be keeping it from growing faster than it could in the sun...or in a brighter spot anyway.

Kristy :)

I like it for contrast to the other plants. I planted it last year and it really took off, but has been much slower spreading this year. The bed is surrounded by grass, so I simply mow it to keep it in check. And, I'm hoping it will
strangle the Great Expectations in the picture and put it out of its misery--I've moved it 3 times now and it keeps shrinking. Richard

Aw c'mon, that GE is pretty. Send it to me and I'll nurse it to health!

Personally, I like sweet woodruff better. See how nice it is with Grand Marquee? And it SMELLS good!

{{gwi:1037134}}

Hi
Have some creeping jenny growing among some of my Hostas,does not seem to cause them any trouble.Nice little plant really.Cheers.

When I bought my little plant of Blue Mouse Ears,recently,the nursery lady gave me some to plant near the BME plant,which I did. It does look really nice to contrast with the blue of Blue Mouse Ears! It is still small,however. It can't be any worse than Vinca,and I have lots of that growing around my hostas! Phil