8-18-09: Rubus calycinoides

Rubus calycinoides This vigorous groundcover is number three on our month of groundcovers, as if anyone is paying attention out there as it is August, (vacation month), and it is okay if you’re not.

Creeping bramble is like most blackberries, a fast grower and a tough plant. Covered in roundish crinkled leaves that are green tinged with red and undersides of a lighter green, this ground cover quickly forms a dense mat. The leaves are set on purple stems that have a bit of a hairlike thorn, yet nothing that is bothersome. The blooms are white, and the fruit is the color of a Chinook salmon, a lush orange. The berries are edible and look like a small raspberry, tasty but a bit seedy. The leaves turn a deep vivid red in the fall. Rubus forms a dense low mat 12 inches high with a wide spread. They are very adaptable to sun or shade or anything in between. Tough, drought tolerant, disease proof, and pretty, rubus is a great groundcover for many situations.

Just to review a bit about groundcovers; they save labor by reducing weeding, they save water by reducing evaporation, they are useful to bind loose soil on steep slopes (erosion control), and they produce a natural look of plants carpeting the ground. One could choose to have just one plant as a ground cover. Lawns are an example this. Most likely you will have a combination of many textures and sizes of plants in your garden to give a pleasing look.

Pleasant Hill Nursery is pleased to offer:

Rubus calycinoides in #1's: Call for Prices & to Check Availability