Bought this plant 12 years ago in Spain, only really flowering this year!

Chinasea

I bought this plant 12 years ago in Spain and has only ever rather meekly flowered until this year! It is a hardly little plant all the same as it managed that extreme winter we had back in 2010.

I was inspired to buy it after seeing it hanging from balconies all around the Costa with sweeps of beautiful pink. Once the sun goes down the flowers curl back up.

looksee

It appears to be a mesembryanethemum - they grow in Ireland especially in sunny spots on the coast.

lottpaul

looksee wrote: »

It appears to be a mesembryanethemum - they grow in Ireland especially in sunny spots on the coast.

Agreed - we have several that have sulked their way through the last couple of damp and grey summers but are in a wonderful blaze of colour this year - seem to grow best in the driest, sunniest spots.

Now, if only it had a more pronouncable name ,,,,,,,

Chinasea

Sure enough I put that mesembryanthemum into Google images and saw tons of samples.


I thought it would be just a Spanish or hot climate plant, but now that you mention it there is a cacti like plant growing near the Martello tower in Sandycove that would not be a million miles in character from Ms Mesembryanthemum with fab darker pink flowers and fatter green stems.

tara m

This is now called Delosperma cooperi (Syn. Mesembryanthemum cooperi) - very easy to propogate, just pick bits off and stick them into a 9cm pot with a bit of compost, or if you've a rockery, you can poke bits in here and there and most of them will take easily. Lovely little plant, and looks great in the old zinc tub!