The Fast-Spreading Ground Cover That's Also A Pollinator Magnet

As an eco-conscious gardener, you know that planting ground covers can be enormously beneficial to your yard. These helpful plants can keep the soil covered, thus shading it from too much sun exposure and moisture evaporation. Plus, they can help to suppress weeds, making your gardening tasks easier. Some fast-spreading ground covers can also offer additional benefits, especially if they produce pretty flowers that can attract pollinators to your garden. If you're on the hunt for a new ground cover, but you want something a little more unusual that has other advantages, you might just want to take a look at ruddy clover (Trifolium rubens). This fast-growing ground cover forms nice dense clumps with a spread of around 16 inches. Better still, the gorgeous blooms are a pollinator magnet, making this another fast-growing ground cover that'll attract hummingbirds and pollinators to your yard. 

Ruddy clover is unlike other weedy-type clovers as it won't get out of control. Its leaves are more linear and lance-shaped, and it produces 2-foot-tall stems that each have two flower buds. These buds are a soft silver color and open up to produce the most striking red, feathery, conical blooms. What's even more interesting is that only one bloom will open to start with, and when that one is spent, the second one opens to give you an extended display of beautiful flowers right through summer.

Ruddy clover is a hardy perennial, and it can be grown in USDA hardiness zones 3 through 8. It does best in a sunny spot but can also be grown in part shade. The soil should be well-draining and, while this species thrives in sandy soils, it will adapt to a whole range of soil types. Being drought-tolerant makes it an even lower-maintenance addition to your garden. You'll also find that those attractive blooms make excellent cut flowers. As an added benefit, the plant will produce seeds, which will be loved by all the birds that visit your yard.

As this is a variety of clover, it offers another benefit to your garden apart from covering the ground and attracting pollinators. It is, of course, a legume, which means it can add nitrogen to the soil to then help feed the other plants that are growing nearby. That's precisely why you should grow this type of plant to create healthier soil in your yard and garden. This also makes it an ideal ground cover plant for your ornamental flower beds or to fill in spaces in your rock garden. Plus, it's one of the best types of ground covers to plant around fruit trees, if you want to avoid growing the more invasive types of clovers in your yard.