I have 2 of your favorites, they are favs of mine too.

The Geranium Biokovo and Karmina doing border patrol

And here is that Persicaria Affinis . It has a lot of brown leaves to rake out gently in early spring, but by mid to late May it is looking fine and starting up that very long bloom time that looks great till winter takes over.

This post was edited by gazania on Sun, Feb 1, 15 at 16:54

I know it's become super-popular, but since you're in a close hardiness zone to mine, I gotta say it's hard to beat the Rozanne geranium, it blooms here from spring till frost, non-stop, no deadheading required. Depending on how much gardening space you have, it's a contender. I have 9 garden beds & 3 acres & a full-time job so I love my perennial geranium!

Meanwhile, I am planning to try that Teucrium chamaedrys 'Nanum'- small, mounding evergreen herb --anything evergreen gets bonus points in my books…

Thanks!
-Dina

-gazania, thanks for filling in with those pics! I believe it was you who first posted your 'Karmina' pics (think in a front bed, with a ninebark?) that led me to first pick one up. Wonderful plant!

-Dina, I might have to give Roz a try sometime. I've tried many geraniums over the years and lately they have fallen out of favor with me just because of the ratty-factor after bloom. We carry Roz at the nursery and it struck me how prolific and tidy she was, even in a 1gal for many weeks!
CMK

The one that comes to mind at the moment is Veronica 'Royal Candles' a nice tidy little plant that blooms for a long time.

Annette

Tbh, the whole edging thing is a mystery to me - I struggle to manage any sort of edge and feel envious of those who do. Even so, I am making the attempt to cut back the endless tall and billowy perennials and grow some neater types - various dianthus and erodiums are two of my go-to types...and one of the smaller alchemillas (erythropoda?). Oh yeah, I enjoyed a sterile polemonium, Lambrooke Mauve and the ubiquitous, if not particularly tidy erigeron karvinskianus, ..although by July, all of these will have vanished underneath the onslaught of thugs. I do, however, rely on a great many annuals to provide some sort of (temporary) boundary service at the allotment (which would, otherwise, be just a field)

..I like that Prunella... never grown it here...self heal or somesuch...
..long time since I grew Persicaria affinis but always a soft spot for that..
.I have Geranium 'Biokovo', but variety 'Cambridge' is the one I use mostly, it's all over the place and edges some of my roses...

...Geranium macrorrhizum in variety, especially the white... these are the only ground covers I know that can help suppress the dreaded field horsetail weed with which my garden is blessed...

Lavatera 'Mary Hope'...a dwarf form, with various Geraniums...

Helianthemum 'Sterntaler'... I love this bright cheery colour which lights up a shady border, and nice foliage too when not blooming...

.for other shady edges I used Epimedium 'Frohnleiten', as I just love the foliage colour in Spring...

..lots of other things too like dwarf Hebe's that form a rounded mound...likewise dwarf Berberis, Dianthus, Iberis 'Snowflake'....
and this pretty favourite... Armeria maritima 'splendens' .. lots of these as part of my garden borders a road...and they don't seem to mind that...

-Mar, that Lavatera is really neat. I just looked it up and a site said it got 1.5m (4-5ft). Yours looks much shorter- do you pinch back? Seed around much?
CMK

hi Chris,

...I probably shouldn't have included that photo as it's more of a small shrub but I use it as front of border... it's max height is 3 foot and I prune it right down in March...rather like you would a hybrid tea rose.... no other pinching, and can't say I've noticed any seedlings... no way does it ever reach 4-5 foot here from Spring prune...
...it's drawback, is that it's a June/July plant, not many flowers from August... but pretty though and assorts well with so many things at that time...

I do, however, rely on a great many annuals

Me too, me too.

I really like using annuals as a border to an otherwise perennial garden. One gets bright colors for much of the season and it imposes some order on an otherwise seemingly disordered groups of perennials.

Having said this I cant seem to find my exemplars for such a border...for the sake of expediency here are a couple of photos that give the idea.

{{gwi:252071}}

I love these kinds of plants and have worked to get more of them. They allow me to be somewhat reckless in planting anything I want with little regard to design or cohesiveness and still manage to look somewhat pulled together. :)

I also have 'Biokovo' and 'Karmina' and Geranium macrorrhizum 'Ingwersen's Variety' Epimediums are also wonderful! I have rubrum but would like some sulphurem too.

I love Sedum kamtschaticum and Sedum ternatum. Nice, tough plants that have a great texture even when not in bloom. Well behaved too (though I have 'Angelina' and love her, she does tend to show up everywhere, but not these guys) Plus, ternatum is a US native!

Another plant I have only recently planted but am crazy for is calamintha nepeta var nepeta. It stays about 15", blooms non-stop and the bees LOVE it (so perhaps not the best choice for a walkway). I have it bordering my herb garden. I have heard it can self sow so we'll see how it does this year.

Shorter daylilies and Heuchera make a nice border too.

I've never done much with annuals but I have some 'Apricot Profusion' zinnia seeds that I am wintersowing from a friend who said they are the perfect border plant. They sound ideal. DH said he really likes sweet alyssum so I am wintersowing that one as well.

Marolena, that Helianthemum 'Sterntaler' is really neat!

Charming pic of 'Starry Eyes', CMK. Thanks for starting this thread; looking forward to adding some plants to my list :)

I use wooly creeping thyme in spots along our front walkway as I find foot traffic, winter shoveling, and shade from larger plants keep it from creeping too far. Iberis (I've used several selections) and Dianthus (Greystone is the only one I remember off the top of my head, but I have used several others as well) also make good edging for me. All of these are quite low growing and are slow enough spreaders for me that one or two trims a year keeps them looking good if the lawnmower and foot traffic aren't enough. Here on the right is D. 'Greystone' shortly before getting buried in snow having had no attention all season. You can see it is trying to creep into the grass a bit.

It really is evergreen and I value it for the foliage as much as for the relatively short-lived white flowers. The voles do love it, however.

I use geranium biokovo and karmina a lot also. I also have veronica Blue Carpet, I think, sown from seed, which is really quite low. I love sedum katschaticum for the dry areas - beautiful in or out of bloom.

I am really trying to like my iberis, but it gets quite leggy, blooms very sparsely, and just seems too fragile (I have Autumn Beauty, I think it is). Every year I say I will yank it, and then in fall it makes a valiant comeback (foliage, at least; not so much the blooms) and I always give it a second chance.

I got some veronica Georgia Blue eons ago at a plant swap, and really like its habit and the beautiful color of the blooms. I'm toying with getting more of this as an edger for my few sunny areas.

I like to use annuals as well. I have a lot of shade, and I just became a big fan of white impatiens a few years back - give a nice definition and the white really pops in shade - and as soon as I had settled on that as my go-to edge, they got hit with the mildew problem. Sigh...

Dee - IME Iberis 'Autumn Beauty' is the sloppiest of the Iberis types I have grown, selected for its fall flowers rather than the plant's form. My tidiest form was one that was shorter, perhaps 'Purity', and had no sprawling and looked good all year. I also like Veronica 'Georgia Blue.' In my garden in the shade it travels, though never aggressively, but so far in the sun it is more compact. This started as a quart pot ~5 years ago and now weaves through where ever there isn't another plant for quite a ways, at least 10 feet. Wooly thyme (sparse due to shade and early season) is on the left.

As garden edgers I have also used Astilbe, Heuchera, a variety of Geraniums and some of the lower growing Campanulas.

I *do not* use any plants that don't have what I consider outstanding foliage for edgers/front of the border. Cr*ppy foliage drives me nuts.

So, here's what I use for edgers:

-- Another vote for annuals.

-- Herbs can also make great edgers. I'm partial to sage; I like the silvery wooly foliage, but there are other varieties (tri-color, purple). Chives, too. Bonus with the herbs (outside of the obvious culinary use) is the scent when brushed against.

-- Runnerless alpine strawberries (Fragaria) are terrific edgers!

-- In terms of low-growing perennials, these are top-shelf:

* "Biokovo" geranium

* Bergenia

* "Helen von Stein" lamb's ears

* Sedge

* Liriope (L. muscari, not L. spicata; L. muscari clumps, L. spicata runs)

* Japanese painted fern (only in the right spot - will fry if too dry or too much sun; in the right conditions they are fantastic)

* "Citronelle" heuchera (this cultivar is a stellar performer for me -- other heuchera not so much...or not at all).

* Sedum (various varieties - the ones I have are not truly low growers, more of a mid-height, but they look great all season and I don't hesitate to use them at/near front of the beds)

I do like and use various other perennials as edgers, too, but I consider the above best of the best of what I've got.

Still working on things but heathers are pretty carefree and

Babs, thanks for the comments on the iberis. Maybe I'll try a different one. I did pick the Autumn Beauty for the fall blooms, but since there aren't enough of them to barely even notice, it won't be a huge sacrifice to get one that doesn't rebloom - especially if the foliage is nice. I'd rather have nice foliage and no blooms than ratty, leggy foliage and half a dozen blooms!

Your Georgia Blue is beautiful! I really do like this and always wonder why I haven't yet gotten more of it....

Corydalis lutea for shady or semi shady spots. Delicate , ferny foliage and small yellow flowers. This plant is the first and last to flower in my garden. I can have flowers from March thru October depending on when the snow departs.

Sherry

Me too, Sherrygirl! The only competitor with corydalis in my garden is the lamium (under the deck and never sees the light of day)…D

Bumping Christin's great thread for yet more front of the border choices.

Thanks, catkin, for bumping this thread. I didn't join gardenweb until a few weeks ago so I had not noticed it. This is going to be a regular reference post for me.

You're welcome, Kez!
Any more recs?

Love this thread. Threadleaf coreopsis, ajuga, and ladies mantle are three that I use that I haven't seen mentioned here. I love plumbago once it gets started, but man it is slow to get going.

My calamint that I posted about upthread should be coming into bloom soon. I'll try to snap a picture when it does. I'm in love with it.

I have Thymus praecox 'Coccineus' lining the path into my herb garden and it does a really nice job widening the path and a moderate job keeping weeds at bay.

Dee reminded me that I do have ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' and ladies mantle that keep a tidy form.

I also have Veronica 'Waterperry Blue' and Phlox (creeping) 'Emerald Blue'... these are creepers rather than upright but they look nice in patches by the front walkway

I really love the Helen Von Stein lambs ears mentioned in mxk3's post. They do not reseed around but spread nicely and the foliage always looks great, even here in the humid midwest.

Corydalis ochraleuca is growing away nicely and will, I hope, provide a much needed edge definition in the amorphously green woodland. Although not a garden as such, more a collection of stock plants, tryouts and babies, I do have a particular area around the truck which benefits from some attempt at paths and edges. So, the corydalis were sown last autumn, along with omphalodes, and ranunculus cortusoides, the shorter geums (g.borisii, g.'Cooky', g.intermedia (but I am pushing it a bit regarding lack of full sun). Saxifrage urbium has already been mentioned (although I know the variegated one and dislike it intensely) and, for a shadier spot, saxifrage fortunei - Wada's Variety.
I tend to like the bigger hardy geraniums and avoid pinks...but found I was besotted with 2 cinereums (cinereums!) - Carol and Purple Pillow. Many geraniums which have a good long season of bloom tend to maintain it with a vast amount of foliage (the famous Rozanne, Patricia, Red Admiral)...but these 2, while needing at least dappled sunlight, make very neat edging indeed, without trailing willy-nilly all over the path/grass/paving.

Catmint "Walker's Low"
Lambs Ears
Coreopsis "Moonbeam"
Begonias
Shasta Daisy (my favorite perennial) "Freak"

Good old Candytuft!