February Perennial of the Month-Liriope
Liriope, sometimes called, monkey grass, is one the most commonly used groundcovers around town, and there’s a reason for that. IT WORKS. Sizzling St. Louis heat and humidity. Frigid temps with ice and snow. Sun, shade, damp, dry. It’s all good! It’s almost a perfect groundcover … until you don’t want it to be a groundcover. That’s where things get confusing. There are two main types of liriope sold in nurseries, “spreading” and “clumping”-Liriope spicata is the spreading type, and other than a few hard-to-find cultivars is almost always solid green. Liriope muscari is the clumping form, coming in solid green, and my favorite for brightening up tough, shady spots, variegated.
It seems more often than not, nurseries and growers get the tags wrong, and you come home with a spreader when you want a clumper or vice versa. Some gardeners say the spreading liriope flowers are lighter purple, even white, while the clumping flowers are purple. Some say the leaves of the spreading type are narrower than the clumping type. All fine and dandy if you have specimens of both side-by-side to compare. ‘Leaf size’ and ‘lighter purple’ are relative terms. Always go with the variegated to be safe if you want the clumping.
What’s the big deal if you get the speading? L. spicata spreads by aggressive runners and, once established, IS YOUR FRIEND FOR LIFE, unless you have a backhoe at your disposal to remove it, especially in full sun where it thrives.
Whatever your type, the only maintenance suggested is a haircut in late winter or very early spring before new growth emerges. This task is easy enough by setting your mower on high or using a weed whacker, taking care to not damage other woody plants growing in the liriope.
What I love about this plant-It takes shade, sun, dry, wet, cold, heat, low ground, or extreme slopes prone to erosion. It’s evergreen and has charming purple flowers in late summer. Very low maintenance. The variegated clumping form plays well with others by having good ‘stay-put’ manners and beautiful contrasting color.
What’s not so great-The confusion over spreading vs clumping. It’s nearly impossible to get rid of the spreading type if needed. Rabbits tend to like L. muscari ‘Variegata’ no matter what you read online. Stray grass seed can be an ongoing maintenance nightmare if Liriope is planted adjacent to regularly overseeded turf areas.
Words and photos by Jo Batzer
© Jo Batzer, garden-lou.com, All rights reserved.
