Other Names:  Disneyland Ice Plant, Iceplant

Description:

A low growing, trailing succulent, native to South Africa but amazingly hardy in North America; dazzling white, daisy-like flowers with pale yellow centers; perfect for xeriscapes, rock gardens, screes and sandy soils

Ornamental Features

Alba Trailing Ice Plant features showy white daisy flowers with buttery yellow eyes rising above the foliage from late spring to late summer. Its attractive small succulent pointy leaves are bluish-green in color. As an added bonus, the foliage turns a gorgeous brick red in the fall.

Landscape Attributes

Alba Trailing Ice Plant is an herbaceous evergreen perennial with a trailing habit of growth, eventually spilling over the edges of hanging baskets and containers. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Alba Trailing Ice Plant is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Alba Trailing Ice Plant will grow to be only 4 inches tall at maturity extending to 6 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 15 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 5 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in sandy soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Alba Trailing Ice Plant is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its trailing habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.