Other Names:  Ice Plant

Description:

This unique shrubby variety is usually prostrate, but can rise up to 18 inches; pickle-shaped, evergreen leaves have soft, spiny hairs; yellow flowers appear all season; a great choice for hot dry areas, as groundcover, in the rock garden, or as edging

Ornamental Features

Pickle Plant features dainty yellow daisy flowers with white overtones and gold eyes at the ends of the stems from late winter to mid fall. Its attractive tiny succulent oval leaves emerge light green in spring, turning green in color. As an added bonus, the foliage turns a gorgeous coppery-bronze in the fall.

Landscape Attributes

Pickle Plant is a dense herbaceous evergreen perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and usually looks its best without pruning, although it will tolerate pruning. It is a good choice for attracting 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.

Pickle Plant is recommended for the following landscape applications;

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

Planting & Growing

Pickle Plant will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 12 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 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 is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any 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 highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This species is not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division.

Pickle Plant is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers and foliage against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.