Delosperma cooperi

Delosperma cooperi is a prostrate succulent from the Free State in South Africa with bright violet-purple almost iridescent flowers and small fleshy cylindrical leaves. It forms a dense drought-resistant groundcover on dry rocky free-draining ground where it is an ideal planting combination with other larger more architectural succulents like Aloe, Agave or Yucca and is perfect as a trailing plant hanging down a sunny wall or embankment or clambering over a rockery. In the wild - where it often grows together with Kniphofia - it experiences extremes of temperatures ranging from very hot in the summer to snowfall and a few degrees of frost in the winter. It is thus very cold tolerant but in the British sense of the word it can't be considered hardy and should be covered with several layers of horticultural fleece to protect it during the winter months. Disliking overly wet conditions, it is best to also cover it with an anchored sheet of plastic during the winter.