Ice Plant Ground Cover
Ice Plant Ground Cover dazzles the eye!
I’m a big fan of ground covers and a big fan of succulent ground covers. They get on with it and don’t ask for much attention. I’ve even found that that they can survive freezing temperatures as long as they’re not waterlogged. (I’m not talking the Arctic here but certainly zones 5 to 9). They have interesting foliage and their flowers are spectacular, even when on the small side. Take the humble Ice Plant ground cover, for example.
When I first moved into my new house here in the North Bay, it was late winter and there was nothing in my front bed. Coming from Africa, I had no idea what I could grow and there was nothing much around in my neighbors’ front gardens to give me any ideas. Imagine my delight when, at the beginning of March, I found a treasure trove of South African plants being laid out before my eyes! Such abundance! Gazanias, Arctosis, Agapanthus, and Ice Plant ground covers, otherwise known as Delospermas.
I wanted to cover a large area quickly and didn’t want to lavish water on a street side bed, so I bought a couple of big trays (pallets?) of the trusty Ice Plant which is a great drought resistant ground cover. I chose the pink flowering one (Delosperma floribundum) because its flowers are so dazzling and I needed a bit of brightness outside my new home. Equally dazzling, though, are the yellow ones (Delosperma brunnthaleri) but I thought growing both together could be too much eye candy for my new neighbors! Yesterday I discovered an orange variety (Lampranthus Aureus) in a near by village. It was so bright, I had trouble getting my lens to focus on it.
They took some time to get established but flowered enough to let me know they were happy so far from home. My only advice would be, buy more trays. I know I would have had better coverage much earlier if I’d doubled the quantity of Ice Plant ground covers in the first place and they are very reasonably priced if you buy them in big trays. So don’t skimp on your planting people! You are wanting to cover the ground after all. If you find you’re a bit thin on the ground in some spots, though, Ice Plants grow very well from cuttings popped straight into the ground.
Now, a year later, my Ice Plants are providing excellent cover and soon I expect to be hit by pink each time I step onto the pavement. (I have discovered that, by Northern California standards, my tastes tend towards the brash and brassy but, hey, can flowers ever be too brash and too brassy? Well, that is a conversation for another time but I say No!
Another great thing about Ice Plant ground covers (so called because of their glittering flowers glistening against their fat little leaves) is that nothing seems to want to eat them. The gophers don’t, the skunks don’t and the deer don’t and that’s saying something in gopher, skunk and deer land!
Happy gardening and don’t forget your sunscreen.
By the way, here is a link to a list of gopher resistant plants:http://www.groundcoversandgardening.com/gopher resistant plants.
If you want to buy plants that deer probably won’t eat, look here.
Fall Note: Now is the time to shop for fall bulbs so you have a spectacular spring garden. American Meadows is offering 50% off fall bulbs now so start shopping.
