Perennials, shrubs and culinary herbs make it effortless to cultivate the regions of your property covered with pea gravel. These small, round stones come in a variety of colors to match your landscape and pea gravel from local stones supplies a natural appearance and is usually less costly. As a general rule of successful planting in pea gravel, don’t pick plants that enjoy acidic soil.
Perennial Flowers for Complete Sun
It is possible to enjoy a blanket of evergreen leaves and deep pink flowers in late spring once you plant cushion soapwort (Saponaria × olivana). It grows 2 to 4 inches tall and 8 to 12 inches broad in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9. The double Spanish poppy (Papaver rupifragum “Double Tangerine Gem”) displays sherbet-orange blossoms with yellow eyes for many weeks between late spring and late summer. It grows 12 to 16 inches tall by 8 to 12 inches broad in USDA zones 6 through 9.
Perennial Flowers for Color
The Lewisa range “Small Plum” (Lewisia “Small Plum”) bears terminal clusters of deep pink rosettes atop stalks 4 to 6 inches high and spreads 6 to 8 inches wide. It prefers full sunlight to partial shade in USDA zones 3 through 9. The pocketbook blossom variety “Goldcap” (Calceolaria biflora “Goldcap” ) displays little lemon-yellow pouch flowers atop delicate stems 4 to 6 inches tall and spreads 6 to 8 inches broad, preferring partial shade in USDA zones 5 through 9. Both plants blossom in late spring through early summer.
Culinary Herbs
Rosmary (Rosmarinus) is native to Mediterranean climates and tolerates salt spray. The range “Blue Spires” grows 5 to 6 feet tall in USDA zones 8 through 10, making an outstanding hedge along with a delicious variety for cooking. You can scatter thyme (Thymus vulgaris) seeds directly onto the ground in spring and enjoy its small pink or bluish-purple flowers in the summer. It grows about 12 inches tall and broad in USDA zones 5 through 9.
Privacy Screen
It is possible to create a year-round solitude screen with evergreens grown in pea gravel. “Ray Hartman,” a variety of the California native Ceanothus, is a 20-foot-high shrub that thrives in dry soil. It bears fragrant blue flowers in spring, prefers no irrigation and also grows in USDA zones 9 and 10. The yucca plant (Yucca x schottii) is a 20-foot-high sand-loving succulent for USDA zones 10 through 13. It has quite large spiky foliage and features showy white flowers in summer that become edible fruit.