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Frog Fruit

16 years ago

Does anyone grow this groundcover? I bought some in 4 inch pots. Each plant is about 2 feet long, but they are so tangled that I hadn't seen anything so tangled since my own hair on a bad day.

Comments (12)

  • 16 years ago

    I have it in an area. Mine gets really long and glangly too if I don't trim it. I think it would do better as a ground cover in an area where you can run the mower over it occasionally to keep it tighter and bushier. The blooms are tiny. My SIL is trying some as a lawn replacement in a small area. I'll ask her how it's doing and post her answer.

  • 16 years ago

    I have some I just started this spring. I'm using it in a flowerbed, and although it's doing well, I'm not that impressed. It's about the farthest thing from "showy" imaginable.

  • 16 years ago

    It grows wild in Central Texas. Great butterfly plant. I just let it go . It doesn't like a bunch of foot traffic but It makes a great ground cover. It is not that showy but I like it wandering around the path, ramps, etc.

  • 16 years ago

    SIL said theirs did OK thru the spring, but croaked this summer. Wonder if it will come back when the weather improves. Maybe only the top is dead. Anyway, I think I'd only put it somewhere where I need cover but not in that visible an area. Or maybe it just takes a while to establish.
    The horseherb is going like gangbusters. Another groundcover I really, really like is Blue Shades ruellia if your area has alot of shade. Mine doesn't bloom a whole lot, but it sure has pretty leaves and looks good even in all this heat.

  • 16 years ago

    I have some volunteer frog fruit. One patch is growing in full sun in the inferno strip and is putting up with no additional watering at all. The other patch is across the sidewalk on the lawn-side. It gets morning shade and no additional water. It surely is not showy, but it is green in spring, summer, and fall. I don't like to mow or weed eat it much, because this keeps it from flowering, but it has put up with being weed-eated once to about 6" to 8". Its edges have been weed-eated to keep it in its bed. It is the second year for the partial shade bed frog fruit. It is growing in Eagle Ford shale-- clayey and NOT well drained.

  • 16 years ago

    Well, I don't really think of it as a groundcover, because in my yard, at least, it doesn't have that much foliage, to really cover the ground. Be aware, however that it likes a certain amount of water. The runners will root and it will move toward a moister area if you let it. Still, I like the flowers, which butterflies and bees use for nectar. In summer, it might stop flowering if it doesn't get much water.

  • 16 years ago

    I have some in my garden and I think it is pretty. It does spread quickly and although the blooms are small, they look like tiny white cottonballs above the green leaves and it is also a favorite for Pearl Crescent butterflies that are always all over it. I think it might also a host plant for these butterflies as well, but haven't noticed caterpillars yet. It receives moderate to low water in my garden in full sun and does great.

  • 16 years ago

    Thanks for responding. I don't get the impression that it makes a "lawn replacement" type of groundcover as I had read. That's OK, because I only bought a few plants.

  • 16 years ago

    Frog fruit grows wild along the sides of the roads out here in central Texas. Here in Bandera county it is all over the place; I like it, it makes cute flowers, and seems tough as nails. It is flowering right now (saw a bunch on the roadsides as I took a walk this morning) and it hasn't gotten any rain to speak of in weeks. I wouldn't say it would make a thick ground cover, but it would look great along a rock wall or garden edging, or maybe along a path. It's very cheery, I love the way it looks!

  • 16 years ago

    My 'wild' frog fruit has made a good groundcover in the bed it has been in for two years. Perhaps this is because that bed is surrounded by six inch high walls? It finally found one way to escape from the bed, and has a runner growing out that way. This bed is in clayey, non-well drained, unwatered soil.

    The frog fruit has not made a good groundcover in the bed in the inferno strip that it is colonizing this year. On the other hand, it hasn't filled in that bed yet.

  • 16 years ago

    I have seen it used as a lawn at this ranch in Blanco. It seemed to put up with foot traffics and it was THICK. i do not know how long it took to get that way.

  • 3 years ago

    Hello, where can i find frog fruit in austin, tx tx. free cuttings are always good.

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