Plant Form: Succulent groundcover
Water Use: Low, Medium
Mature Size: 1-2 ft. tall x 3-6 ft. wide
Exposure: Full sun
Bloom Time: Spring (Mar-May), Winter (Dec-Jan)
Hardiness: Cold Hardy to 25°F
Native to: South Africa
Orange Form Ice Plant will knock your socks off when it is smothered with neon orange flowers in early spring. The 1 1/2 inch shiny flowers open at 9 am and close at 5 pm…their work done for the day. This easy-to-grow succulent forms a rounded, compact shrub with dark green, fleshy, cylindrical leaves that can root when branches touch the soil. It tolerates poor soils, heat, and infrequent irrigation, but can’t abide excessive moisture or a hard frost. Gardeners in cold winter climates treat ice plants as annuals. It is resistant to rabbits and deer, but attracts butterflies, birds, and pollinators. You can grow this ice plant by division, cuttings, or seeds. Orange Form Ice Plant can be used to bring brilliant color to rock gardens, cactus gardens, steep slopes or embankments, raised planters, stone walls, hanging baskets, and containers.
THIS MONTH IN YOUR DESERT-SMART LANDSCAPE
Color season is reaching its peak, spend time outside enjoying it!
- Reset irrigation schedules and increase watering time as temperatures rise
- Work compost or soil amendments into planting beds to improve moisture retention as summer approaches
- Plant cold-tender perennials, preferably in pots so winter protection is easier
- Keep mulch on soil–especially with organic matter such as leaves, bark, or chipped
wood–to temper the drying and heating effect of the sun; irrigation will be more effective with less frequency and quantity - Continue pulling weeds before they form seed heads (if weeds are brown, you waited too long); you’ll have fewer weed problems later