In article , "LeeAnne"
wrote:

What about Lily of the Valley? It's not a creeper like a vinca, but it
grows/spreads like mad and smells so wonderful when it's in bloom. Small
green plants with small white flowers then little red berry things :-)
Poisonous if eaten, but nobody said you have to eat them.

LeeAnne

Several NATIVE semi-creepers with the common names Lily of the Valley,
False Lily of the Valley, False Solomon's Seal, Fairybells -- of the
Disporum sp, Maianthemum sp, & Convallaria sp. -- can be very fine
choices. These have lovely little flowers, excellent foliage, & some have
long-lasting red berries, although no winter presence. Most would have
such dense root systems they'd really keep weeds down to nothin'. They
make excellent no-mainteance moist-shade groundcover choices. Even if they
spread aggressively, they cannot be regarded as woodland invasives when
locally native species are selected (rather than the commonly gardened
Eurasian species). Convallaria montana would be the native Lily of the
Valley for areas around the Appalachians; Maianthemum dilatatum is a
Northwest native, many other choices region by region. Some you wouldn't
want to plant near anything delicate, as the spread can overwhelm anything
smaller. Most need no soil preparation, they grow in anything.

For something with evergreen presence, & which will do well even in dryish
shade, there are some creeping groundcover cultivars & varieties of native
Mahonias (Oregon grapes). Would have to be chosen specifically with an eye
for dwarf or creeping types, as some of them are very tall bushes instead
of groundcovers. They have yellow flowers & very edible blueberry-like
berries. Another native with evergreen presence if Wintergreen, with
bright red berries that last through winter & are edible. It's one of my
favorite native mini-shrubs, but it spreads extremely slowly. There are
dwarf varieties of lingonberries which are evergreen & extremely
cold-hardy as is wintergreen. Lingonberries produce copiious amounts of
edible fruits if there's at least a little sun, but will also do great in
deep shade though without much fruit. Some varieties stay only two inches
tall, even "big" varieties are only a foot or so tall, & these spread
quite rapidly.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/