Ornamental · Aizoaceae
Ice Plant
Delosperma cooperi
Give it full sun and sharp drainage, and this succulent rolls out a low carpet of jewel-toned flowers all summer.
Full sun
USDA 6–10
3–6 in · 8–15 cm
Overview
So what is ice plant, exactly? It's a low, mat-forming succulent from South Africa that spreads into a thick carpet of fleshy, finger-like leaves. All summer long it covers itself in daisy-like flowers in purple, pink, orange, and yellow that catch the light kind of like crushed glass. It usually stays down around 3 to 6 inches tall, so it's great as a groundcover, an edging, or a spiller that tumbles over a wall or rockery.
Here's the thing that makes this one stand out from all the other plants sharing the name: it's seriously cold hardy. Delosperma cooperi handles winters right down to USDA zone 6, way colder than the tender ice plants most folks picture. It's tough with drought and heat too, so it's a natural for those hot, dry banks where hardly anything else wants to hold the soil.
The catch? It really can't stand wet feet. Growing it well pretty much all comes down to drainage. Give it gritty soil and full sun and it more or less takes care of itself, but leave it sitting in cold, soggy ground over winter and it'll just melt away on you. Sort out the drainage, though, and you're mostly home free.
Care
The short version: full sun, gritty fast-draining soil, and go easy with the watering can. Let it dry out between drinks, keep it nearly dry through winter, and it won't ask you for much else.
Light
Ice plant really wants full sun, so give it 6 or more hours of direct light a day. It'll put up with a bit of partial sun, but anything shadier and you'll get weak, stretched growth with just a few scattered flowers.
Water
Water it sparingly, and only once the soil's dried out completely. An occasional deep drink is plenty through the growing season, and over winter it should stay nearly dry. It's a real succulent, remember, so overwatering is the fastest way to lose it.
Soil
Drainage is the whole game here. Plant it in a gritty, sharply drained sandy or gravelly mix, and if your ground's on the clay side, just work in plenty of grit or build up a raised spot. Soggy soil is what rots the crown.
Temperature
It's tough at both ends, comfortable anywhere from about -9°F to 100°F (-23°C to 38°C). That cold tolerance is exactly what lets it overwinter outdoors in spots where most succulents would give up.
Humidity
It likes low humidity and dry air, which makes sense for a plant built for hot, dry banks. Damp, still conditions don't do it any favors, so a bit of good airflow keeps it healthy.
Feeding
You barely need to feed it. In lean, well-drained soil you can skip feeding altogether, and at most give it a light, balanced feed in spring. Rich soil and heavy feeding just give you soft, floppy growth.
Pruning
Give the mat a light shear after the main flush of bloom to tidy it up and coax out a second round of flowers. Then in spring, clear off any dead or frost-damaged growth so the fresh shoots have room.
Repotting
If it's in a pot, it only needs repotting every 2 to 3 years. Just watch for roots poking out the drainage holes or the middle of the mat thinning out, which means the pot's full and it's time to bump it up.
Size & spacing
These stay nice and low at 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 cm) tall, but they spread into a wide mat of 12 to 24 inches (30 to 60 cm). Space them out so the carpets can knit together without piling up on each other.
When to plant
Since ice plant is a hardy perennial, once it's in the ground it just comes back on its own every year. Set new plants out in spring after the worst frost is done, and you can expect flowers rolling in from June through September. And in winter? It's not the cold that gets it, it's wet soil.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Harvest: Summer; flowers roughly June to September
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 6–10
Temperature: down to -23°C
Troubleshooting
Ice plant honestly doesn't give you much grief, and just about every problem traces back to one thing: too much water hanging around the roots. Learn to catch the early signs and most of it is easy to nip in the bud. Find what matches below, then jump on it before a soft patch spreads.
Blackened, mushy, or just missing after winter
What you're looking at is crown and root rot, and honestly it's the one thing that takes down a plant this tough. When cold, wet soil sits against the crown all winter, the stems and roots go soft and mushy, and if you've got heavy clay it's even quicker. So dig in some grit, put the plant up on a raised, sharply drained spot, and keep gravel against the base instead of bark.
Fix:
- Improve drainage with grit or gravel and replant in a raised, sharply drained spot
- Avoid bark mulch over the crown; use gravel instead
- Provide a sheltered, drier site in marginal zones
Sticky bits or fluffy white spots on the leaves
That's usually one of two little sap-suckers, and neither is a big deal. Aphids pile onto the soft new growth and leave it twisted, and mealybugs show up as white, cottony fluff tucked along the stems. Just hit them with a strong jet of water, and if a few keep coming back? Then it's worth reaching for insecticidal soap.
Fix:
- Rinse off with a strong jet of water
- Treat with insecticidal soap if populations persist
Barely any flowers and long, floppy stems
This one's easy to explain, because it comes down to too little sun. Stick it in shade and it stretches out reaching for light and hardly blooms, but move that same plant into the open and it'll cover itself in flowers. So find it a spot that gets 6 or more hours of direct sun a day, and you're set.
Fix:
- Relocate to a position receiving 6 or more hours of direct sun
Toxicity
Good news if you've got pets or little ones: ice plant is not known to be toxic, and there are no poisoning reports tied to it. Cats, dogs, and other critters can brush past it or chew a leaf without much worry, and it's not a plant that should alarm you if kids are playing nearby. One honest caveat, though: Delosperma cooperi itself has never been formally evaluated for toxicity — the commonly cited 'non-toxic ice plant' listing actually covers a related species, not this one. So treat it as low-risk rather than a certified-safe plant, and it's still worth steering pets and kids away from snacking on this or any garden plant.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats Non-toxic
No worries with cats here. If yours chews on a fleshy stem, this succulent won't do it any harm.
Dogs Non-toxic
Dogs are fine around it. Even if one digs up a clump or snacks on a few leaves, it'll be okay.
Horses Non-toxic
If a horse grazes the foliage along a path or border, there's nothing to worry about.
Rabbits Non-toxic
Rabbits can munch the soft leaves without any trouble, though they mostly steer clear of anything this fleshy.
Livestock Non-toxic
Cattle, goats, and sheep are all fine, whether they're at the mat or the flowers.
Birds Non-toxic
Garden birds and backyard poultry can peck away at it and be perfectly fine.
People Non-toxic
It's safe to handle, and if a kid grabs a taste, that's no emergency.
Varieties
Breeders have given hardy ice plant a big spread of colors, and a handful of series and picks really stand out. These are the ones that are worth knowing by name.
Jewel of Desert series
These are compact, flower-happy cultivars that come in everything from peridot-yellow to garnet-red, and the RHS lists loads of them.
Wheels of Wonder series (e.g., Hot Pink Wonder, Orange Wonder)
These are strong, spreading picks that people grow for their flowers, which are unusually big.
'Mesa Verde' (Delosperma 'Kelaidis')
This salmon-pink Plant Select pick started out as a sport of a dwarf alpine form of D. cooperi over at Denver Botanic Gardens.
How to propagate
Ice plant is about as easy as it gets when you want more of it. You've got three methods to pick from, and every one of them is simple and forgiving, whether you're after just one new plant or a whole tray.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Spring to summer · 2-4 weeks to root
Want the quickest route to more plants? Go with cuttings. Snip off short, fleshy stem pieces anytime from spring to summer, let the cut ends dry over for a day or two, then poke them into a gritty mix, and they'll root in 2 to 4 weeks.
DivisionEasy
Spring · One growing season
An older mat is dead easy to split up. Lift it in spring and pull it apart, and since the runners are already rooted, they go straight into new ground and fill in over a single growing season.
SeedEasy
Spring · One growing season
If you're after a whole bunch of plants, seed's the way to go. Scatter the fine seed on the surface in spring, give it warmth and light, and the seedlings will be ready to plant out over one growing season.
Myths
Every plant called 'ice plant' is the same species and equally weedy or toxic.
Not so, because that name gets slapped on a bunch of unrelated Aizoaceae genera. The invasive coastal weed is Carpobrotus, and the ASPCA's non-toxic 'ice plant' is Lampranthus piquetbergensis. Hardy Delosperma cooperi is its own thing, so don't go lumping it in with either.
Ice plant needs frequent watering to thrive.
Actually it's the other way around. This is a drought-tolerant succulent that's happiest in dry, sharply drained ground, and too much water is what does it in, since the crown and roots just rot once they stay soggy.