Lampranthus Species, Mini Ice Plant, Oxenbould Daisy, Rosy Dew Plant, Red Vygie

This plant is a xeric champion. We tried seven different xeric groundcover varieties when we rehabilitated our unirrigated “hell strip�...Read More�� between the street and sidewalk. Vygie was the only one that took, after an unintentionally grueling audition: we didn’t know we were going into the worst 36 months of the recent drought when we started the project. Yet from one sample plug we now have several low-maintenance weed-resistant carpets about 12” to 18” deep, and are expanding more transplants from it every winter.

Most of the year Vygie is a pale green shag with a dewy-looking coating of slightly sticky sap. It kind of resembles those high alpine summer mosses you see in the Sierra Nevadas — somehow, right here in Zone 9-10. At its worst, Vygie fades at the tips to green-brown in especially dry circumstances, but rebounds quickly at the first rain or with an emergency soaking. At the first sign of spring, after a wet, cool winter's rest, the whole mat lights up with shocking magenta blooms abuzz with honeybees.

So, best qualities: we are most impressed with Red Vygie’s xeric hardiness once established, and with its aesthetic uses. And although we mistakenly thought we’d got a gold or white blooming iceplant when we bought the cutting, we gladly wear sunglasses and enjoy Red Vygie’s spectacle for those bright weeks every spring.

I have not grown this plant which is also known as rosy dew plant. Lampranthus roseus (synonym: Mesembryanthemum roseum) is now consider...Read Moreed to be a type of Lampranthus multiradiatus. It blooms in October and November which is spring and early summer in South Africa, its native habitat. This plant needs some protection from the sun in climates that become very hot in the summer; however, it will not bloom well if it does not receive enough sunlight. So, areas that have morning sun and afternoon filtered shade would be the best locations in which to plant Lampranthus roseus in these climates. The blooms have a slight peppery smell and are pollinated by bees and beetles.