Ice Plant Flowers

The scientific name of ice plant is Carpobrotus edulis, a native to South Africa. This plant is a succulent and is common amongst chaparral habitats all over the world. This plant is also found in the Mediterranean, California and Australia, but became a threat to the native vegetation due to its invasive nature. Ice plants have an attractive and decorative look. The leaves are covered with small fibers that sparkle like ice in the sun. Ice plant flowers are of multiple colors and the plants also bear edible fruits. Despite its beauty, the plant causes ecological nuisance in California and other native areas. This plant is also known by common names, such as Delosperma table mountain.

Apart from all these things, ice plant is still adored by many for its beautiful appearance. It has daisy like flowers, blossoming in pink, bright yellow and white. This plant requires very specific climatic and geographical conditions to grow. The plant is hardy and is a drought tolerant species. Ice plant is a beautiful garden plant that forms wonderful ground cover with single fushia blooms. It a plant for dry climate that grows up to a height of 2-3 inches.

Growing Ice Plant

Before you start growing ice plant in your garden, you must know the basic steps for ice plant growth. Ice plant care is also essential for maximum blossoming of ice plant flowers.

Choose the Species
Get the particular type of ice plant seeds from nurseries nearby. You can also start growing ice plants with small starter plants sold in nurseries. Select healthy looking plants that have signs of new growth with young leaves and flower buds.

Soil Preparation
Ice plants prefer light sandy soil. It also requires dry hard packed area for better survival and free from growth of other plants. If you are sowing seed, the soil should be loosely scratched, so that seeds can make good contact with soil and surroundings. The soil must also be well drained. You can also spray some organic fertilizer for getting better quality of flowers.

Sowing Seeds
Seeds fail to germinate if not exposed to proper sunlight. Planting plants or sowing seeds should be done in early spring. The plants are in their growing period during this time. The seeds must be sparsely spread. It should be watered and lightly raked into the soil.

Ice Plant Care
In winter season, it should be planted indoors in window baskets for maximum exposure to sunrays. For maximum foliage, occasional heavy soaking is beneficial. Old and dead stems should be cut off. Prune the spent flowers for a tidy growth in the garden. Once you take care of the plants, you garden will be spread with a bed of beautiful ice plant flowers.

If this plant hinders growth of other plants in your garden, you can control its growth by spraying chemical herbicides. The only way to get rid of this succulent variety is to uproot the plant. That is quite labor intensive and after removing the plants from its roots, the soil needs to be mulched to prevent re-colonization or re-invasion by this plant. The only disadvantage of this plant is that, it must be grown alone and not with others plant varieties in garden. You can also grow ornamental trees in the surrounding landscape.

If you are really interested in gardening the ice-plant, you need to treat it as the only possession in your garden. The ground covered with these colorful flowers looks indeed beautiful. All you need to do is to trim it timely to prevent its invasive nature. This spring, let ice plant flowers fill your garden.