Replace Wilting Tulips With This Ground Cover For Your Sun-Drenched Front Yard

As beautiful as a front yard full of tulips can look if your flowers are healthy and happy, there are few things more depressing than a landscape of wilting withered tulips. Tulips have many common issues which can make them challenging to grow, as in addition to plenty of sun, they also require fertile, well draining soils and protection from deer and rabbits. Additionally, you need to let their foliage die back naturally after they bloom in spring, so you often end up with a yard of half-dead looking plants during summer months. Instead of struggling through another year of disappointing tulip blooms, consider opting instead to use cistus, or rock rose (Cistus spp. and Halimium spp.) as a beautiful flowering groundcover that can bloom all spring and summer long. 

Unlike tulips which require fertile soil, rock roses, as their name suggests, are perfectly happy growing in poor and rocky soil. Native to areas around the Mediterranean, rock roses can thrive in zones 7 through 10, making them a great alternative for gardeners in warmer climates who don't get enough chill hours to easily grow tulips. Growers in zone 6 may also be able to enjoy rock roses as long as they provide them some additional protection during cold winter months. 

Unlike tulips, which grow from bulbs you plant in fall for spring color, cistus are instead small woody shrubs. Generally available as young plants, or occasionally as seeds, rock roses can be planted in spring or autumn like most other perennials. Just make sure to plant your cistus in a full sun location with well draining soil. 

Another way rock roses are a more practical option than tulips is rock roses are drought tolerant and make excellent additions to xeriscaping and drought tolerant gardens, tulips on the other hand can be particular about how much moisture they need. Just be sure to research cultivars carefully if you're looking for a rock rose to use as a ground cover, as the shrubs can vary significantly in height. One of the best cultivars to use as a ground cover is Cistus salviifolius 'Prostratus,' which has stunning white flowers with yellow centers and rarely grows past 2 feet tall, while also spreading up to 6 feet wide.