Delosperma cooperi

A low-growing succulent groundcover that produces a carpet of vivid purple, daisy-like flowers for much of the year. It requires minimal watering and thrives in gravel gardens and sun-baked slopes.

Delosperma cooperi produces brilliant magenta-purple daisy-like flowers with shimmering crystalline petals that catch direct sunlight — earning it the common name 'ice plant'. In the Mediterranean it flowers profusely from late spring through early autumn, with peak displays in June–July and a second flush in September after the worst summer heat passes. The flowers close at night and in cloudy weather. The succulent cylindrical evergreen leaves remain attractive year-round and turn slightly bronze under stress. Hardy to -15°C and exceptionally drought-tolerant, the plant requires only sharp drainage and full sun; it rots quickly in heavy wet soils, especially in winter.

Delosperma is a fast-spreading ground cover, reaching only 8–15 cm tall but spreading 50–80 cm in a single season. Use it to clothe dry slopes, retaining wall tops, gravel edges, the cracks between paving stones, and as living mulch around larger Mediterranean shrubs. The magenta flowers are intense and benefit from cooler companions — pair with silver Stachys byzantina, white-flowered Erigeron karvinskianus, blue-grey Festuca glauca and the chartreuse foliage of Sedum rupestre. Particularly effective cascading from green roofs, raised planters and terracotta wall pockets. Combines beautifully with the contrasting orange of Bulbine frutescens for a hot, vibrant low planting.