Monroe's White Lilyturf

Monroe's White is the plant for dry shade under a maple, where most things give up. Liriope muscari 'Monroe's White' forms a dense clump of dark green, strap-shaped evergreen foliage 6 to 12 inches tall and about as wide, hardy from Zone 5 through Zone 11 in part shade, filling in to a weed-suppressing mat within two seasons.

In late summer, spikes of pure white flowers rise just above the leaves, at the point in the year when most shade plantings have gone flat. Common lilyturf blooms lavender, and the white reads far brighter in low light, which is the reason to choose this one. Small dark berries follow the flowers.

The foliage holds through winter across most of its range, looking tattered by late winter in the colder zones and staying respectable in the warmer ones. It is one of the few evergreen options for shade that also flowers.

Deer leave it alone, it handles drought once the clump is established, and it tolerates moderate salt, which makes it usable along a walk that gets winter treatment. Plant 12 to 18 inches apart for a continuous edging, closer if you want coverage sooner.