What is your zone or what city are you in?

I like Santa Barbara Daisies.

By the way, you can run PVC above ground, paint it with dark brown matte spraypaint, and hook it up to a hose spigot with a 40 dollar DIG timer if you are going to have groundcover. This has saved me so much labor.

Renee

How funny! The first thing I thought was Santa Barbara Daisy/erigeron! I love this plant and I use it extensively. Just recently I'd decided that I love it so much, that it would be the 'continuity' for me. Whatever else I plant, the erigeron is/ will be the continuing thread that ties it together. I especially like it around the base of my roses and in some recently cleared out/replanted areas, I'm planting Santa Babara daisy to fill in again.

WC Gypsy- I use it everywhere too. This winter I had Mikey mow it down with the lawnmower instead of hand trimming it, and it came back beautifully. What a wonderful plant.

The ground cover with the prettiest flowers is Moss Rose (Portulaca grandiflora), but you can not walk on it. It has flowers that look like roses, and come in many colors.

I adore portulaca but it requires regular watering here. I'm hoping to see some seedlings but not so far.

I really don't know why gazanias wouldn't work. What reasons were given?

You could do Santa Barbara daisies with evolvulus (blue flowers). Convolvulus has a slightly larger flower.

There's also thyme in various colors. Or alyssums. Both can be mowed high. Veronica prostrata or pectinata (prostrate forms). Ice plants.

I'm with hosenemesis and wcgypsy re: Santa Barbara daisy. Tough. Undemanding. Needs little water once established. Blooms almost year round in my zone (10b, Sunset 24). Evergreen. Floats and dances in the breeze. Blends with almost anything. Works great with ornamental grasses. Acts like a lace edging on a garment and adds that little finishing touch in a garden.

Although it's a cliche, I've seen trailing lantana used as a groundcover and it's beautiful.

I have both gazanias and Santa Barbara Daisy/erigeron in full sun where I have to hand water and I much prefer the gazanias. More color, more drought resistance and longer bloom period (for me). Mexi-primrose is invasive, but pretty and fits those conditions too.

I also love Santa Barbara daisies.Dh cuts them back every year and they never fail to come back.We have the purple and white daisies.

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i had forgotten about those pink daisies.
Kathi

I think you may be thinking of something else. What you've pictured is not Santa Barbara Daisy / erigeron karvinskianus, but osteospermum, aka 'African Daisy', aka 'Freeway Daisy'.

I'm pretty sure I'm growing Erigeron glaucus, but I think both it and E. karvinskianus are coastal natives here. Is the E. karvinskianus more drought resistant than E. glaucus?

I haven't grown e.glaucus, but in looking both up to compare, it is mentioned that e. glaucus would take a little more water when grown outside of its coastal zone habitat and e. karvinskianus is said to "thrive in dry climates", so I'm assuming that which is more drought tolerant would depend on where you are growing it. Perhaps being equally drought tolerant at the coast, but karvinskianus perhaps more drought tolerant inland.

Don't know why i said santa barbara daisy,as i know they are freeway daisys.Thanks for catching that.
kathi

Look thru this website for ideas, you will find the search engine useful

Here is a link that might be useful: stepables