I think myrtle likes shade. When I was a kid in MA my mom had a bed of it in the shadow of a wooded area of our yard. The only place I've seen it growing here in Vermont is also in a wooded area, shade most of the day.

It's a nice flowering ground cover. I wish I had a place to put some here but our land is all open and sunny.

I forgot to add that I'm not sure if myrtle chokes out bulbs or coexists with them. Maybe someone else knows.

The bulbs come up through the myrtle.

Myrtle is pretty greedy, so the bulbs would be happier without it. And if you use bulbs that reproduce, like daffodils, the myrtle makes it difficult to dig them up and divide them when the time comes.

On the other hand, it's a beautiful thing. It works nicely with bulbs that are on the thuggish side themselves, not dainty ones that tend to disappear under the best of circumstances. And of course the short bulbs will almost disappear under the myrtle foliage, it tends to mound quite a bit.

If you've planted minor bulbs, remember that they will spread and thicken up nicely over the course of a few years. My old mini-woodland garden is completely covered in squill, grape hyacinth, etc after several years of adding a handful of bulbs at a time.

I can't resist--every time I see the title of this thread I think of "Moaning Myrtle" from Harry Potter. What is wrong with me?

On to business. I like myrtle with bulbs. Myrtle hides the hideous dying foliage and bulbs are usually planted deeper than myrtle's roots so there isn't that much competition. But myrtle likes some shade so you should plant shade-tolerant bulbs, of which there are not many. Scilla hispanica is a great choice for naturalizing in decent soil in semi-shade. Blue, pink and white are available.

Thanks everyone. I believe I'll go ahead and plant it. I have Scilla Siberica planted where I want the myrtle planted. Do you think they'll be ok?

Vinca minor (aka periwinkle, creeping myrtle) will grow anywhere. Sun, shade, in between, wet, dry. It is the only plant happily growing under the dry shade of the huge Norway maple in my yard. (Norway maples have thirsty, allelopathic roots and dense shade - I've removed 4 other large ones.)

This yard was full of vinca when I moved here. I've removed about half of it. While it MIGHT be an okay companion for bulbs, in general I found it is not a good companion for basically everything (except Norway maples, maybe Silver maples too). The stuff is indestructible and too aggressive and I want to grow other stuff.

It has its uses though - difficult to grow spot? Want to have someplace for the dog to dig, roll and poop? Grow a patch of Vinca minor.

Now I wonder if creeping myrtle is a good plant to go along with my spring bulbs. Is there a ground cover that lives in shade, chokes out weeds but not spring bulbs and is short enough to let the bulbs be seen?

Hi OV, maybe one of the tamer cultivars of Vinca minor, like a variegated variety, or ones with white or double flowers. Avoid pachysandra and English ivy though - they have the same problem - too aggressive.

You could consider one of the lovely native groundcovers. I'm growing several that are shade tolerant like Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) which makes nice rosettes of semi-evergreen foliage and pretty flowers. It is sending out runners all over the place this Spring. The native ginger (Asarum canadense) is also doing well. I also love little Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense), which is a very common woodland groundcover, very simple little leaves but some clumps make tiny fragrant white flowers.

Phlox divaricata (woodland phlox) and Jacob's ladder (Polemonium reptans) are also nice with heavenly lavender blue flowers - mine are just seedlings though and haven't flowered yet.

It's fine. Myrtle doesn't make a dense enough mat to choke things out. It's a problem with using it as a groundcover, since if it is in enough sun for grass to thrive, it will be absolutely full of grass.

How much shade do you have in that spot and what are the bulbs that you've planted? I ask because this is exactly what I did in my own yard about 30 years ago when I planted myrtle throughout my daffodil bed.

The leaves of the bulbs need to remain long after the flowers die so that the bulbs can expand. I found that the myrtle thrived in the shade and that the trees, which provided the shade, also grew. In time the combined increase in shade caused my bulbs to die back. The daffodils became spindly whereas the myrtle thrived, but because of the thick myrtle cover, I wasn't able to dig up and move my narcissus. So... if the spot is ideal for the myrtle, it might not be best for your particular bulbs.

Molie

The trees that are providing the shade are deciduous so they don't get leaves until the daffodils and siberica are dying back. Will creeping myrtle keep weeds and grass out in shady areas?

It does a reasonably good job of keeping the grass out, but when grass sprouts in it, it's a real pain to remove.

In the long run you might be happier with a real shade garden there, depending on how much other gardening space you have and how much you like to garden.

I LOVE asarums (called ginger, though not related to the culinary one) of all kinds, especially European ginger, which has lovely heart-shaped glossy bright green leaves, and the more exotic ones with variegated leaves. Epimediums are also great for shade; they do disappear in winter, but a tidy covering of mulch still looks fine. Something like bleeding heart will be tall, but will not obscure the bulbs' flowers, since it grows as they're flowering - the foliage on mine is a lovely color now and compliments minor bulbs beautifully. Hellebores like the shade from deciduous trees, taking a fair amount of sun in winter. Most varieties bloom in winter; and most need to be cut back in March, so if this is a "no care" bed, go with the vinca or one of the other groundcovers.

It all depends on what you need from this space.

Groundcovers are great, including vinca (creeping myrtle, periwinkle) but they tend to bore us after awhile, especially if they're ubiquitous like vinca is. Something a little different can be much more fun and interesting - but there's nothing wrong with using something common like vinca if you're not interested in maintenance or if this is an obscure bed that you want to forget about (except when the bulbs are in bloom).

----Groundcovers are great, including vinca (creeping myrtle, periwinkle) but they tend to bore us after awhile, especially if they're ubiquitous like vinca is. ------

Not me! I'm never bored with flowers that grow well with little care! The more pervasive they are, the better I like them! A sea of blue...

I think I may have figured out a place to start some myrtle. May I ask where you all are getting it and how, seeds, plants.. digging up shoots or buying from a nursery?

Spedigrees - too bad you don't live closer - you could come dig up as much as you wanted from my enormous patch of it that remains (near the Norway maple). It is about 50x 100 feet - that is 5000SF, and I've removed about that much again. Yes, that is what happens when Vinca is allowed to grow unchecked for decades.

Maybe someone near you would be happy to share some? It is often offered at plant swaps. If you have a freecycle, you could post a want.

You can also buy it on eBay, or at a local nursery. But the nursery near here says they can't keep the stuff in stock. Hmmmm...I am serously thinking about selling the stuff.

Thank you, terrene. That's very kind of you, but as you say I'm a distance away. I'm going to buy some and see how it does in several locations here on my property. If it thrives I'll buy more next year.

A tip on how to plant vinca (and pachysandra) so it will spread more quickly. Plant the clump and then lightly bury each stem out and away from the mother plant so that just the tip end of each stem shows. Looks a little strange when you have completed planting a bed, but this method encourages faster coverage.

Thanks nandina, for the planting tips. It's much appreciated since I am clueless about how to plant ground cover plants. :-)