One of the best ways to acquire new plants for your yard, garden, or inside your home is to take cuttings or be willing to put your back into digging up extra plants that friends and relatives may have. If they're willing to let you work a spade in their yard, you can wind up with lots of great plants such as Rose of Sharon, which tends to drop seeds and grow new plants all around itself all summer long. The added benefit is the great workout you'll get. Even with the best diet pill on the planet, you need to exercise to really stay in shape for summer gargening.
Monkey Grass (lariope) is another plant that loves to propagate itself to the extent that it almost becomes a nuisance for many homeowners. Dividing some off will give you numerous plants to take home and put in the ground as borders and edgings in places that need a little dressing up. This hardy plant will grow in shady spots so could be a good choice if you have an area that is too shady for grass to grow in. This also lends a nice green or striped leaf to an otherwise drab winter landscape.
Violets are another plant that are beautiful when in bloom and have wonderful dark green leaves through the summer. They spread readily so that only a few crowns are needed to quickly fill in borders along the edge of your walkway or to be the front attraction for an otherwise tall flowerbed. They are low growing and easy to maintain. In the spring you get gorgeous purple flowers that are actually edible. Use them in salads to add color and interest. Violets will grow in full sun or partial shade.
Artemesia is another willing grower that can be used as a fast ground cover. Although it can get tall if left alone, cutting it down to around 8 inches will give you a thick growth of lovely silver leaves. The cuttings can be dried and used in flower arrangements or on wreathes. This plant is also very aromatic.
Yarrow is a perennial that grows easily in either full sun or partial shade. It really does better in full sun, though. It will give you gloriously soft, feathery leaves and also reward you with delicate blooms in mid-summer.
