Groundcover

Plant Name	Botanical Name	Height Inches	Description
Woolly yarrow	Achillea tomentosa	2-4	Grayish foliage in low mats.
Pussytoes	Antennaria spp.	1-2	Persistent gray-green foliage in dense mats; excellent for rocky slopes.
Sage	Artemisia spp.	10-15	Silvery foliage; A. schmidtiana (silver mound sage) most common.
Mat saltbush	Atriplex corrugata	4-6	Evergreen; foliage greenish-white; for salty soils.
Mountain bluet (perennial bachelor button)	Centaurea montana	15-18	Grayish foliage; blue flowers.
Snow-in-summer	Cerastium tomentosum	6	Gray foliage; white flowers; very aggressive.
Creeping broom	Cytisus decumbens	4-8	Green stems with tiny leaves; yellow, pea-like flowers in May.
Yellow ice plant	Delosperma nubigenum	1-2	Succulent, light-green foliage; yellow flowers.
Mock strawberry	Duchesnea indica	4-6	Aggressive creeper; looks much like strawberry; yellow flowers; inedible, red fruit.
Sulphur flower	Eriogonum umbellatum	3-6	Showy flower stalk to 8 inches tall; foliage in low mat.
Cushion spurge	Euphorbia epithymoides (polychroma)	12-18	Mounds of foliage that change from reddish to green in spring, then scarlet in fall.
Snow-on-the-mountain	Euphorbia marginata	4-8	Green and white foliage; very aggressive.
Blue fescue	Festuca ovina glauca	6-8	Tufts of grayish, grassy foliage.
Creeping juniper Some common clones include: 'Bar Harbor' 'Blue Chip' 'Hughes' 'Webberi' 'Wiltoni' ('Blue Rug')	Juniperus horizontalis	10 10 10 4 4	Perhaps the best year-round cover; many clones and foliage hues available. Blue-green; purplish winter color. Bluish foliage year-round. Silvery-blue; distinct radial branching. Very low mat; fine texture. Very low; silver-blue; purplish tinge in winter.
Pineleaf penstemon	Penstemon pinifolius	6-10	Has needle-like leaves and orange-red flowers; takes heat well.
Moss pink or creeping phlox	Phlox subulata	6-8	Reddish, white or lavender flowers; moss-like foliage.
Creeping potentilla	Potentilla verna	1/2-1	Very low mat with yellow, showy flowers; aggressive.
Creeping buttercup	Ranunculus repens	1-2	Yellow, showy flowers on creeping runners up to 2 feet long.
Lavender-cotton	Santolina chamaecyparissus	10-12	Blue-gray, persistent foliage in dense mats.
Stonecrop (sedum)	Sedum spp.	1-15	Many forms available; not usually competitive with weeds.
Houseleek, hen and chicks	Sempervivum spp.	2-4	Forms dense, evergreen mats; grows in very poor soils.
Mother-of-thyme	Thymus serpyllum	3-6	Low, mat-forming herb with tiny leaves; purple flowers; related species, woolly thyme, has gray-green foliage.

Shade

Plant Name	Botanical Name	Height (Inches)	Remarks
Bishop's weed	Aegopodium podagraria 'variegatum'	10-12	Variegated, green and white foliage; aggressive.
Kinnikinnick	Arctostaphylos uva-ursi	4-6	Evergreen; red, edible berries; use beneath established evergreens in acid soils.
Hall's Japanese honeysuckle	Lonicera japonica 'Halliana'	6-12	Will also grow in full sun, but forms denser mats in shade.
Creeping Oregon grape	Mahonia repens	6-12	Evergreen; yellow flowers in spring; holly-like foliage.
Creeping or mat penstemon	Penstemon caespitosus	1-2	Very prostrate mat of tiny narrow leaves; flowers in May-June; purplish.
Rocky Mountain penstemon	P. strictus	1-2	Blue flowers in June-July.

ref: CO State University Cooperative Extension

Full Sun