Cerastium (Snow in summer)?

I use dwarf plumbago, Santa Barbara daisies, sweet woodruff, Siberian campanula, violets, creeping thyme, golden sage, oregano, catmint, gazanias, and iceplant.
Have fun!
Renee

I like Iberis "Snow White". It fills in well with an electric white that makes any other color stand out. Al

Thanks for the suggestions! I decided to go with the Iberis - I didn't find seeds and thought the plant was hard to find, but I had looked right at it on a couple occasions. It looks great though, and the electric white is REALLY electric. I bought the two six packs that were left, which is enough for one of the areas I was looking to fill. Now I'm wondering if it will turn out to be an annual or perennial here in SoCal - time will tell.

I have some here for several years with no care, and we get down to about 26 degrees several times a winter. Al

Iberis sempervirens is an evergreen perennial, but the bloom season is rather short, late winter only, and it probably isn't an ideal choice for mixing with more water loving Azaleas and Camellias. I'd recommend something that has more flower power, such as a mix of the blue flowered Bacopa with a purple or blue flowered Calibrochoa. Campanula porschkaryana or C. muralis also work well in sun or shade. Oxalis spiralis 'Sunset Velvet' is another nearly year round blooming ground cover I use a lot for part shade or morning sun.

Bahia -- can you keep Bacopa and Calibrachoa alive through the summer in the Bay Area? In southern California, unless you're coastal, they behave like annuals and tend to kick the bucket in the mid to late summer, when the temps get into the 90s and 100s. I've had better luck with an assortment more like Renee's.
I also like iberis as a frog -- frog not as in croak, but as in those old fashioned metal bases our mothers used in the bottom of vases for flower arrangements. I'm able to plant small bulbs under the iberis. When they come up, instead of being floppy, the iberis holds them up.
Kay

We don't get 90 and 100 degree summers here, or even rarely much above high 70'sF, so they are great perennials for nearly year round bloom. I was assuming that there must be some shade or morning sun for the azaleas and camellias, and are you saying that Bacopa and Calibrochoa are that temperature sensitive? Since these are both used and recommended as hanging basket plants across the country, I would assume that they are broadly tolerant of such conditions as long as they are irrigated sufficiently.

I've nothing against Iberis sempervirens, it is just that it is only green for most of the year, as are the Camellia and Azaleas, and I wouldn't find that combination all that interesting outside of the short spring bloom season.

Ground covers for hot broiling sun is another thing altogether, but it didn't sound like this was the case, given what the shrubs to plant around are. I wouldn't be recommending Azaleas and Camellias for such conditions in the first place.