Hardy ice plant
Delosperma cooperi · Aizoaceae
A succulent mat that covers itself in shimmering, magenta-purple daisies all summer. It needs full sun and sharp drainage, and dies in wet winter soil.
- Size
- 4 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 6 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid June to early September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around hardy ice plant
The planner designed this bed around hardy ice plant when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why hardy ice plant stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Hardy ice plant × 11, purple
- 2 Sea thrift × 5, pink
- 3 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 3, tan
- 4 Stiff goldenrod × 3, yellow
- 5 Dwarf English boxwood × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Butterfly weed × 3, orange
- 7 Spring starflower × 12, blue
- 8 Star of Persia × 3, purple
Why this plant
- The only daisies. The others are globes, spires and flat plates. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Under the taller plants. It runs back between them as living mulch: there its job is to cover the soil, not to be looked at.
- 11 plants in 3 groups (5, 3 and 3). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
- Fine leaf against bold. Stiff goldenrod is beside it: the strongest contrast of leaf there is.
Why now
- In flower for 13 weeks. From mid June to early September.
- Part of the bed's peak. With sea thrift and star of Persia in mid June: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
- One of three evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 5 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Stiff goldenrod and little bluestem 'The Blues' anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Hardy ice plant repeats along the bed to tie it together.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where hardy ice plant goes in a border
At 4 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
The brightest carpet for dry places. Its glittering magenta is loud, so give it grey gravel, silver foliage or blue fescue as neighbours, not other strong colours.
- Hot, dry slopes and gravel
- Rock gardens and wall tops
- Groundcover for dry-climate gardens
What to plant with hardy ice plant
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Blue fescue: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (10 in) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Sedum 'Angelina': its chartreuse leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Hens and chicks: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about hardy ice plant
Does hardy ice plant need sun or shade?
Hardy ice plant grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled.
What zones does hardy ice plant grow in?
USDA zones 6 to 10. It is hardy to zone 6, which means it survives winter nights down to about 0 °F (−18 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does hardy ice plant flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid June to early September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 6 | Mid June to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 7 | Early June to early September |
| Zone 8 | Early June to early September |
| Zone 9 | Late May to early September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should hardy ice plant be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 4 in (10 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many hardy ice plant plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used 11 in three groups.
Is hardy ice plant poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat hardy ice plant?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after hardy ice plant?
Hardy ice plant is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- Pink muhly grass: from mid September to early November, 3 ft tall.
- Autumn crocus: from mid September to mid October, 5 in tall.
What does hardy ice plant look like in winter?
Hardy ice plant keeps its green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
More Delosperma
- Ice plant 'Fire Spinner' Delosperma 'Fire Spinner'
- Yellow ice plant Delosperma nubigenum
In these guides
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 4 in (10 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid June to early September; daisies; purple
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 6 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Aizoaceae
- Comes from
- Southern Africa
- Stands up to
- Deer, salt
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.