Drosanthemum candens

Drosanthemum candens (synonym Drosanthemum floribundum), formerly known as Mesembryanthemum, is an adorable perennial plant from southern Africa with a creeping habit that will cover walls, rockeries, and borders in coastal gardens. It has a delicate succulent foliage that persists in winter and offers numerous nectar-rich flowers, light pink with metallic reflections, that bloom from spring to autumn. This Drosanthemum with many flowers is cultivated and used like its cousin Delosperma, in full sun and well-drained, even dry soils.

Drosanthemum candens is a plant from the family Aizoaceae, native to the eastern Cape Province in South Africa, where it grows along the coast. This semi-hardy perennial is perfectly adapted to hot and dry Mediterranean-type climates. It settles between stones, paving slabs, or on a dry slope, as long as it finds some substrate. However, if your region is subject to frosts close to -6°C (21.2°F), place it in a pot or container that you bring indoors during winter to protect it from frost.

This prostrate plant develops thin, creeping, ramified stems that easily root, thus colonizing the space up to a width of 1m (3ft) or more under favourable conditions. The vegetation height does not exceed 15cm (6in). The finely hairy stems bear small succulent leaves that are opposite, clustered, linear to cylindrical, blunt, shiny, and covered with silvery bristles, glaucous in colour, turning reddish in cold weather. These leaves are sessile (without petiole), very fleshy, warty, and measure about 4cm (2in). This Drosanthemum therefore forms a low tuft that is covered with small solitary daisy-like flowers, composed of very thin and shiny petals in pink colour around a pale yellow centre. The flowers only open in full sun. Its flowering period extends from March-April to late September. It is nectar-rich and attractive to bees. If you want to enhance its flowering, you can remove faded flowers.

Drosanthemum candens is an excellent plant for dry rockeries. It thrives alongside Sedums, Dianthus, and Delosperma. However, it will be perfect at the base of Stachys and Valerian, with which it shares the same requirements: sun and dry soil.