Adding pops of color to your garden landscape is easy when you plant ground covers with cheery pink blooms. From bright magenta to soft baby pink, these low-growing plants provide vibrant color from spring through fall.
Ground cover plants with pink flowers spread over bare soil, preventing weeds and erosion. The carpeting effect also cools the ground and attracts pollinators like butterflies and bees. Best of all, most pink blooming ground covers require minimal care once established.
This guide describes 15 of the best pink flowering ground cover plants for your garden.
Why Choose Ground Covers with Pink Blooms?
Pink ground cover plants liven up gardens with their colorful flowers and add ornamental value to the landscape, Other benefits of planting pink-blooming ground cover include
- Adds pops of color to garden beds, borders, pathways, and more
- Creates lush, decorative carpeting to suppress weed growth
- Prevents soil erosion, especially on slopes and embankments
- Cools and insulates the ground
- Attracts pollinators
- Provides habitat for wildlife
- Requires less maintenance than lawn grass
- Many are drought tolerant once established
Ground hugging plants with pink blooms are available in a wide variety of growth habits and sizes. You can find low pink flowering plants perfect for rock gardens, planting between stepping stones, edging pathways, or covering large areas.
15 Striking Pink Flowering Ground Covers
Here are the top picks for ground cover plants with pink blooms to brighten up your garden:
1. Creeping Phlox
Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) is a popular low-growing perennial ground cover for full sun areas. This attractive plant forms a soft mat of needle-like evergreen foliage and produces vibrant pink, purple, white or red flowers in spring. Excellent for rock gardens, edging, and covering embankments. Grows 4-6 inches tall. Zones 3-9.
2. Creeping Thyme
Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum) is a fragrant woody perennial ground cover with small lilac, pink or white flowers from early summer into fall. Grows 2-3 inches tall. Adds wonderful texture between stepping stones and ideal for rock gardens. Thrives in full sun and zones 4-9.
3. Moss Phlox
Moss phlox (Phlox subulata) is a low-growing perennial ground cover that forms a colorful springtime carpet of pink, magenta, white, red or purple flowers. Needle-like evergreen foliage creates attractive mats perfect for rock gardens, borders, and areas between stepping stones. Grows 3-6 inches tall and spreads 12-18 inches wide. For zones 3-9.
4. Hardy Geranium
Hardy geraniums like Geranium sanguineum are herbaceous perennial ground covers with saucer-shaped flowers in shades of magenta-pink. Blooms late spring to midsummer. Grows 12 inches tall and spreads 18-24 inches wide. Excellent for borders, rock gardens, and slopes. Tolerates sun or part shade. Zones 3-8.
5. Cheddar Pinks
Cheddar Pinks (Dianthus gratianopolitanus) are petite perennials with grass-like foliage and fragrant, frilly double pink blooms in late spring. Grows just 4-6 inches tall and spreads 6-8 inches wide. Loves full sun. Great for rock gardens and edging pathways and beds. Tolerates some foot traffic. Zones 3-9.
6. Creeping Jenny
Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) is a fast-growing perennial ground cover with bright yellow foliage and cup-shaped light pink flowers from late spring to midsummer. Grows 2-4 inches tall and spreads rapidly. Loves moist soil and part shade. Zones 3-8.
7. Sweet Alyssum
Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) is beloved for its sweet-smelling, carpet-forming masses of tiny white, pink, or purple flowers from spring to fall. Grows just 3-6 inches tall and thrives in full sun. Great for borders, beds, and rock gardens. Treat as an annual in zones 4-9.
8. Wild Strawberry
Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is a perennial ground cover that produces petite white flowers and sweet red berries. Some varieties also have pink blooms. Grows 4-6 inches tall and spreads by runners. Loves part sun. Delicious fruits attract birds. Zones 4-8.
9. Creeping Snow-in-Summer
Creeping snow-in-summer (Cerastium tomentosum) is a fast-spreading perennial ground cover smothered in masses of petite white, pink or purple flowers in late spring. Woolly silvery foliage adds nice texture. Grows 3-6 inches tall. Full sun. Zones 3-7.
10. Veronica
Speedwell (Veronica) offers low-growing, mat-forming perennials perfect for ground cover, including V. repens with light blue flowers and V. peduncularis ‘Georgia Blue’ featuring vivid violet-blue blooms. ‘Goodness Grows’ has rose-pink flowers. Grows 3-6 inches tall. Part sun. Zones 4-8.
11. Creeping Zinnia
Creeping zinnia (Sanvitalia procumbens) is a heat-loving annual ground cover that produces abundant daisy-like yellow, orange or pink flowers all summer long. Grows 4-6 inches tall and spreads 2 feet wide. Plant in full sun. Zones 9-11.
12. Mountain Bluet
Mountain bluet (Centaurea montana) is a hardy perennial ground cover that blooms profusely with fringed cornflower-like blossoms in shades of pink, blue, purple or white in late spring to early summer. Grows 12-18 inches tall. Full sun. Zones 3-7.
13. Dwarf Morning Glory
Dwarf morning glory (Evolvulus) is a tender perennial ground cover that produces a carpet of small blue flowers on some varieties, and pink blooms on others. Heat and drought tolerant once established. Grows 1-2 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide. Full sun. Zones 8-11.
14. Creeping Bellflower
Creeping bellflower (Campanula poscharskyana) is a fast-spreading perennial with clusters of delicate, bell-shaped lavender-blue or pale pink flowers from mid to late summer. Grows 6-12 inches tall and vigorously spreads by rhizomes. Part sun. Zones 3-8.
15. Creeping Baby’s Breath
Creeping baby’s breath (Gypsophila repens) is a perennial ground cover smothered in masses of tiny white or pink flowers in late spring and early summer. Forms mounds 6-12 inches tall that spread by underground rhizomes. Full sun. Zones 3-9.
How to Plant Pink Ground Cover Flowers
When planting pink blooming ground cover plants:
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Prepare the planting area by removing weeds, debris and digging over the soil. Mix in some compost or organic matter to enrich the soil.
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Space plants according to the mature spread size, allowing enough room between plants to grow and spread.
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Dig a hole twice the width and depth of the plant’s root ball. For potted plants, gently remove from containers before planting.
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Place the plant in the hole and backfill with surrounding soil, firming the ground gently around the roots. Water thoroughly after planting.
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Apply 2-3 inches of mulch around plants to conserve moisture and inhibit weed growth. Replenish the mulch layer annually.
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Water ground cover plants regularly until established. Mature plants are often quite drought tolerant.
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Fertilize in early spring with a balanced organic fertilizer.
Caring for Pink Ground Cover Flowers
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Keep the area weed-free by hand pulling unwanted plants. Many spreads vigorously, choking out weeds naturally.
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Prune back plants after flowering to encourage new growth and additional blooms. For a neater appearance, shear creeping phlox and sedums.
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Every few years, rejuvenate overgrown patches by cutting back significantly or digging up sections to replant.
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Divide spreading perennials in early spring or fall to control growth. Replant divisions in other areas of the garden.
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Apply fresh mulch around plants in spring to suppress weeds, conserve moisture and insulate roots.
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Water whenever the top few inches of soil become dry. Established plants are quite drought tolerant.
Including beautiful pink blooming ground covers in your landscape is an easy way to add vivid color from spring to fall. Their flowers also attract pollinators while their spreading foliage helps control erosion and weeds. With minimal care, these hardy plants provide long-lasting beauty and ground coverage for gardens.
Woolly hedgenettle
The woolly hedgenettle (Stachys byzantina) is famous for its woolly hair-like filaments, which have often been compared to bunny or donkey ears. The leaves look as though they are covered in light grey dust, and its delicate, subtle flowers pop with purple. The woolly hedgenettle is an evergreen and prefers sunny locations. It reacts very sensitively to waterlogging.
Woolly hedgenettle has a startlingly soft texture [Photo: Happy Owl/ Shutterstock.com]
Lampranthus
With its large flowers and bright colours, lampranthus (Lampranthus) is a wonderful addition to any garden. Its large blossoms open only during midday in summer, but this succulent is robust and needs little care. However, it doesn’t tolerate harsh winters, so you may need to move a portion of the succulent indoors during colder months. Alternatively, save a clipping and start a new lampranthus bed in the spring.
The lampranthus’ flowers are so perfectly symmetrical that they almost seem fake [Photo: Kazu Inoue/ Shutterstock.com]
Instant Garden Makeover: Top 7 Fast-Growing Ground Covers to Transform Your Yard ✨
FAQ
What is a mounding ground cover with pink flowers?
- Pink creeping phlox (Phlox subulata)
- Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum)
- Stonecrop (Sedum spp.)
- Spotted deadnettle ‘Pink Pewter’ (Lamium maculatum ‘Pink Pewter’)
- Hardy ice plant (Delosperma cooperi)
- Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina)
- Pink bugleweed (Ajuga reptans)
- Coral bells (Heuchera spp.)
What is a pink daisy like ground cover?
The Santa Barbara Daisy, also known as the Seaside Daisy, is a lovely plant with lots of daisy-like flowers. They can be pink or white and can bloom almost year-round in the right conditions. It has bright green leaves and makes an excellent low ground cover.
Is creeping phlox a good ground cover?
Creeping Phlox is a hardy, dependable groundcover plant that is widely used to suppress weeds on hard-to-mow slopes.
What is the creeping ground cover that blooms all summer?
Lamium. Also known as deadnettle, lamium (Lamium maculatum) is a reliable, easy-care groundcover for shade. Most will bloom through the summer, producing clusters of pink, purple, or white flowers. Even when not in bloom, lamium has eye-catching, silver-marked green foliage that brightens up shady corners.
What are some examples of pink-blooming ground cover plants?
Here are some of the best examples of pink-blooming ground cover plants. Pink creeping thyme is a dense, low-growing plant with small pink flowers best suited to rock gardens, shady borders, and mass planting.
What is a pink flowering ground cover?
Pink-flowering ground cover plants are ideal landscaping solutions to create a colorful mat of pink and green colors. Ground cover plants with pink flowers can grow in the shade to add a pop of color under shrubs, along fences, or in a north-facing garden.
Are pink flowering groundcover plants a good choice?
Pink flowering groundcover plants are excellent for covering gaps in flower beds or as an alternative to traditional grass in gardens. Finding the proper plants for areas where the lawn won’t grow or for ground areas that you feel are unattractive is important for the overall appearance of any garden.
What are the best flowering ground cover plants?
Phlox is one of the most spectacular flowering ground cover plants for adding a splash of color to sunny gardens. Phlox subulata ‘Emerald Pink’: This perennial ground cover plant is evergreen in hot climates and has vibrant, starry pink flowers and dark green needle-like leaves. The plant grows 6” (15 cm) tall and 24” (60 cm) wide.
Are pink-blooming ground covers drought tolerant?
Adding that chic touch to your garden is a piece of cake when you choose pink-blooming ground covers. While they look stunning, these hard-working plants can also fight weeds and even hold soil in place. And if that’s not enough, most are low-maintenance and drought-tolerant. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
What plants have pink flowers?
The best ground covers with pink flowers are creeping thyme, pink bugleweed, creeping phlox, and pink-spotted deadnettle. Other good additions to a bare landscape are pink pansies, cranesbill, and sedum. Usually, the flowering carpet-forming plants are fast-growing and low-maintenance.