Plant · P-171

Lilyturf

Liriope muscari

Lilyturf is a tough, clumping evergreen groundcover that holds its cover through winter, which matters most in the season most groundcovers quit. It grows well in shade without any summer watering once established, but the same species in full sun needs consistently moist soil to survive, so shade is the placement that keeps it a zero-input plant. Its root tips are a minor edible, cooked or candied, worth digging when a bed is divided rather than composted, and it carries no known toxicity to people, cats, dogs or horses. The one thing to get right at the nursery is the species - a closely related, similarly sold plant spreads invasively by rhizome, while this one expands under an inch a year.