Delosperma Wheels of Wonder Orange - Ice Plant

The Delosperma 'Wheels of Wonder Orange' is one of the six varieties in the Wheels of Wonder series, notable for its vigorous and floriferous plants, which produce larger flowers, and is brilliantly colored. This variety is the version with bright orange flowers and a golden yellow center. This perennial ground cover with succulent leaves blooms from June to September, spreading its golden carpets in rockeries, above walls or cascading from hanging baskets. It loves the sun and tolerates drought well, while being hardy down to -10°C (14°F)

This Delosperma is a variety from Japan, selected at the 2014 Innovert competition at the Salon du Végétal. Delosperma, belonging to the family Aizoaceae and cousins of mesembryanthemums, are perennials native to South Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar, which are perfectly suited to hot and dry climates. They settle between stones, paving slabs or on a dry slope, wherever they find soil. However, if your region experiences freezing temperatures close to -10°C (14°F), place them in a pot or container that you bring indoors in winter.

This perennial Purslane 'Wheels of Wonder Orange' is part of a new series of plants offering flowers twice as large as the standard variety, in a range of 6 bright and radiant colors. It has creeping, ramified stems that easily root, thus colonizing the space to a width of up to 1m (3ft) under good conditions, in fertile and not too dry soil. They bear light green, cylindrical succulent leaves. These leaves are sessile, very fleshy, verrucose and measure approximately 3cm (1in). It forms a small tuft 15cm (6in) high that is covered with beautiful flowers the size of a 2€ coin, in a flashy orange, grouped in cymes. Each flower has a corolla of fine ligules surrounding a yellow center. The flowering period extends over a long period, bringing vibrant colors to neglected areas.

If you like ice plants, you will succumb to the charm of Delosperma Wheels of Wonder. The 'Orange' cultivar is a perfect rock garden plant. It therefore enjoys the company of Sedums, Dianthus, and Campanulas on walls. However, it will also be perfect at the base of Stachys and Valerian, with which it shares the same needs: sun and dry soil. Planters composed of different varieties from the 'Wheels of Wonder' series will create a very colorful, easy-to-maintain carpet for a very long period.