Suggestions please

josusa47

I don't like bare soil in flower borders, so I'd like to plant some ground cover in the red end of my rainbow border.  In the blue/purple section I have vinca, aubretia and campanula, and creeping jenny among the yellow and orange flowers.  Can anyone suggest a red-flowered perennial that will cover the ground in a season or two, please?  With a decently long flowering season, preferably.

Fairygirl

I can't think of anything red flowered, but how about red berried?
Apart from the usual cotoneasters, there's the prostrate Gaultheria. The foliage turns a bit reddish too at this time of year. The flowers are small, and a bit like Pieris, but the berries are there for ages.

punkdoc

Some Helianthemum species have red flowers.

B3

Scarlet pimpernel - but it can be a nuisance. Easy to pull out though

Lizzie27

@josusa47 I bought two small pots of reduced price thyme from Hilliers (last spring?) which had small red flowers in the summer and it spread well quite quickly without being invasive. It's still green now, I'll see if I can find the label for you.

Hostafan1

you beat me to it @Fairygirl, I was going to suggest gaultheria procumbens.

pansyface

There’s a red- flowered pulmonaria.

Liriodendron

I have a Saxifraga fortunei whose evergreen leaves turn bright red in autumn.  It has little white flowers.  It's in the back of this bed in the middle, between the clumps of snowdrops.  I'm afraid I don't know what its name is...



There's also a S.fortunei with red flowers and green leaves - called Akibare, I believe.  I've never grown it.  Mine makes good ground cover in shade.

Borderline

Low growing Sedum Spurium 'Voodoo' makes a nice low mat that slowly spreads.

If you have neutral to acidic soil, Tropaeolum Speciosum can do well by scrambling across gaps. It's really a climber but very good at scrambling through gaps. A long season of interest. Blue berries with bright red calyces into the autumn. It does well in moist semi shaded areas.

Fragaria x Ananassa Lipstick scrambles everywhere, even in shade. Will stay almost evergreen. Many years ago, I had a small piece. In three years, it covered half of my borders. Luckily, easy to pull out. In hot sun, the flowers can be more dark pink than red though.

Guernsey Donkey2

Hexagon said:

Would cyclamen count? They've got some red flowers. Not sure how quickly they spread. Mine have been flowering for a couple of months so far.

I agree with  your comment.  We have them in our borders over the winter, they are perennial, they will die down when the leaves have finished.

hogweed

What about some heucheras - they are reddy-ish.