Topic: Question about Ice Plants

[Patty S]

Ice plant is easy to transplant & will spread itself out beautifully, so I want to put some on the steep slope above my iris row. (Lots of drainage & poor soil... Ice plant doesn't care about much water & isn't picky about what it grows in!)

I've put Verbena in one section, & found out that when it spreads, it would rather go UP hill, than down...

Does anyone know if ALL "creeping" type plants do that?
Should I plant my Ice plants starts at the bottom or the top of the slope... or in the middle?

[patches]

I've put Verbena in one section, & found out that when it spreads, it would rather go UP hill, than down...
 

Geesh, Patty, I don't really know about any other creeping plants,  but I know my Creeping Phlox doesn't do that!!! 

[Patty S]

I have Creeping Phlox too, & it spreads "out" from the center of the start, whether it's on a hill or not.  Verbena throws up new plants from trailing roots, but I don't know how Ice Plant spreads.

[patches]

Patty, I only had one Ice Plant and it was one I bought when I worked at Pam's.  Well, I killed it, so evidently I don't know much about Ice Plants!!!   

[barleychown]

Patty, they spread out in all directions from the middle. If anything, mine seem to like down, but I may influence that with my shoving it out of the way.

I'm sure it will look great out there with the iris. Do you have enough?

[Patty S]

I mentioned earlier that Verbena wants to grow "UP", & should have mentioned there that Vinca (Periwinkle) is one that likes to travel downhill, if it can.

Patty, they spread out in all directions from the middle. If anything, mine seem to like down, but I may influence that with my shoving it out of the way.

I'm sure it will look great out there with the iris. Do you have enough?

Thanx for the info, Sarah. I think I'm doing it right, then. I have several clumps (mostly rooted ones) that I'm putting here & there.  I think that if they're kept damp (not "wet"), they should root in alright... I put alfalfa pellets in each hole as I planted, to give em a treat, & I've observed that it also holds a bit of moisture after it gets wet, when it's buried, so I watered it down good.
     
The rest of the "green" on the hill there, is a couple stray annuals, but it's mostly the California Poppies that start coming up now, in time to bloom in early fall, then again in the spring. It gets ripped out when it starts getting thick & I get tired of it, but I think that the yellow Poppies might look pretty nice along with the purple blossoms of the Ice Plant. The abundant foliage of the Poppies might also provide the Ice Plant a little protection from the winter elements, although I left a pot with Ice Plant in it, hanging from the deck last year (forgot about it!) & every bit of it survived our bad winter!

I don't know if I have "enough" or not! That would depend upon how fast I want it to fill in... which, of course, can't be fast enough!! (If you have any that needs thinning, please don't throw it away...  I'll be there on the 22nd, probably early afternoon!