Ficus pumila

Graphic design by Mitchell Wolstein, Roswell, GA

Creeping Fig – 3.5 inch Pots (Minimum Quantity: 25 Plants)

Creeping Fig is an elegant vine that does it’s job gracefully, producing a luxuriant, evergreen covering where it is needed. Perhaps you have seen Creeping Fig covering garden walls in lovely cities of the Deep South. Clinging closely, it lends dark green softness to all kinds of structures. Name(s): Ficus pumila, Ficus repens, Creeping Fig, Climbing Fig, Creeping Ficus. Flower Color: Insignificant. Bloom Time: Insignificant. Foliage: Evergreen. Height/Spread: 2 inches to 4 inches when prostrate, climbing to 40 feet. Climate Zones: 8, 9, 10, 11 Find Your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone By Zip Code Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade. Soil Condition: Well-drained to dry, average to poor, pH 5.6 to 7.5. Features: Drought tolerant, heat-loving, grown for foliage. Uses: Xeriscaping, trellises, ground cover, wall cover, container gardens, indoor foliage, topiaries, bonsai. Comments: In colder climates, Ficus pumila is used to carpet ground and cover walls in conservatories and greenhouses, or to cover topiary forms. The matting is usually about 2 inches deep, but can become deeper as the plant matures. Foliage is oval-shaped and ranges from 2 inches to 4 inches in length. Vines will climb anything up to 40′ high. Creeping Fig is cold-hardy only in USDA climate zones 8 through 11. Partial shade is recommended, though it will tolerate full sun. Soil should be well-drained and slightly moist. Read more about Creeping Fig. We can not ship this item to Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

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Ficus pumila

Creeping fig is a broadleaf, evergreen, woody, climber in the mulberry family (Moraceae). It is native to central and southern China and eastern Asia. It is a vigorous grower and, in favorable conditions, will climb 8 to 15 feet high and spread 3 to 6 feet wide. It climbs, like English ivy, by attaching itself to walls or supports via clusters of short roots. The species epithet means “small,” which is true only in comparison to other species of Ficus, most of which are large trees.

The creeping fig is not reliably winter hardy in most of North Carolina; severe cold will kill the climber to the ground. It is more often grown as an annual groundcover, as a houseplant, or in a greenhouse. Indoors, grow it in a soil-based potting mix placed in a spot that receives bright indirect light or part shade and protection from afternoon sun. Water regularly during the growing season and reduce watering from fall to late winter. Prune as needed. When grown outdoors, the plant prefers partial shade or dappled sunlight but will tolerate full sun in moist, well-drained soil high in organic matter. It does best in high humidity. Grown on a south-facing wall, it may overwinter more reliably. It is drought, deer, and moderately salt tolerant.

Creeping fig can cement itself to porous surfaces and will cover moist surfaces quickly. It will climb a rock wall or another vertical space in a butterfly garden or use it as a ground cover. Variegated forms are available.

Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: Watch for scale, aphids, mealybugs, thrips and spider mites.

VIDEO Created by Elisabeth Meyer for “Annuals, Perennials, Vines, and Groundcovers” a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.

• Attributes: Genus: Ficus Species: pumila Family: Moraceae Life Cycle: Annual Country Or Region Of Origin: Central and Southern China, Eastern Asia Particularly Resistant To (Insects/Diseases/Other Problems): deer and drought resistant Climbing Method: Clinging Edibility: Not usually grown for edible fruit, but properly prepared it is popular in Asian countries. Dimensions: Height: 8 ft. 0 in. – 15 ft. 0 in. Width: 3 ft. 0 in. – 6 ft. 0 in.

• Whole Plant Traits: Plant Type: Vine Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics: Broadleaf Evergreen Habit/Form: Climbing Spreading Growth Rate: Rapid Maintenance: Low Texture: Medium

• Cultural Conditions: Light: Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day) Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours) Soil Texture: High Organic Matter Soil Drainage: Good Drainage Moist USDA Plant Hardiness Zone: 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11a, 11b

• Fruit: Fruit Color: Green Purple/Lavender Fruit Value To Gardener: Showy Display/Harvest Time: Spring Summer Fruit Length: 1-3 inches Fruit Width: 1-3 inches Fruit Description: When grown outdoors, pear-shaped to cylindrical fig, mostly solitary, may appear throughout the year. They are green with white flecks maturing to purple, densely hairy, and 2.5 inches long by 1.5 inches wide. They are insipid and not worth eating. Flowers and fruits rarely appear on indoor plants.

• Flowers: Flower Inflorescence: Insignificant Flower Description: When grown outdoors, the adult form displays minute, axillary, unisexual flowers enclosed in fleshy receptacle (fig), entered by apical orifice and pollinated by fig wasps. Rarely flowers when grown indoors.

• Leaves: Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics: Broadleaf Evergreen Leaf Color: Green Leaf Type: Simple Leaf Arrangement: Alternate Leaf Shape: Cordate Elliptical Ovate Subcordate Leaf Margin: Entire Hairs Present: No Leaf Length: 3-6 inches Leaf Description: On climbing stems, juvenile leaves are alternate, simple, heart-shaped, acute, cordate, entire, medium to dark green, glabrous and bumpy above, pubescent below, to 1 inch long with a short petiole. On fruit bearing stems, adult leaves are more ovate-elliptic, slightly acute to obtuse, rotund to subcordate, very dark green above, pale below, reticulate, coriaceous, to 4 inches long.

• Stem: Stem Is Aromatic: No Stem Description: Stems have a milky sap. The juvenile form is slender, climbing by adventitious roots. Adult shoots are non-climbing (and extend horizontally away from the wall on which the plant climbs) and have larger leaves. Adult branches bear the figs.

• Landscape: Landscape Location: Container Houseplants Rock Wall Landscape Theme: Butterfly Garden Attracts: Songbirds Resistance To Challenges: Deer Drought Salt Problems: Problem for Cats Problem for Dogs Problem for Horses

Ficus pumila

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