Delosperma 'Fire Spinner'
Delosperma 'Fire Spinner is a hardy ice plant cultivar in the genus Delosperma, celebrated for its extraordinary tricolour blooms that blend fiery orange, magenta-purple and a white central eye on a single flower. Introduced through the horticultural trade as a cold-tough, mat-forming groundcover, it became one of the most widely grown ornamental delospermas in temperate gardens. Its exact parentage is not firmly documented, but it behaves as a typical hardy Delosperma and its care follows that of the genus.
Description
'Fire Spinner' forms a low, spreading carpet of fleshy, cylindrical green leaves just a few centimetres tall, rooting as it creeps to make a dense evergreen (or semi-evergreen) mat. In cool climates the foliage often takes on reddish or bronzed tints through winter.
The show comes in spring, with a strong flush of daisy-like flowers a few centimetres across. Each bloom is banded — a bright orange outer zone shading to a magenta-purple ring, with a small white eye at the centre — so a mat in full flower reads as a shimmering blend of hot colour. Like other ice plants, the flowers open in sunshine and close in dull weather and at night, and a lighter rebloom may follow later in the season.
Cultivation
Grow 'Fire Spinner' as for the parent genus Delosperma. It wants full sun and sharp drainage above all else — a lean, gritty, fast-draining mix or well-amended gravelly bed, whether in the ground, a trough or a container. Give it room to spread as a groundcover, over a wall, or spilling from a rockery.
It is notably cold-hardy for a succulent, tolerating hard frost when kept dry, and is grown outdoors year-round in many temperate gardens. The usual killer is not cold but winter wet: waterlogged soil rots the roots and crowns. Keep it dry and dormant in winter, water only occasionally in the heat of summer once established, and avoid rich, moisture-retentive soils. See Watering and Repotting for general technique.
Propagation
Because it is a named cultivar, 'Fire Spinner' is increased vegetatively to stay true to type; seed-grown plants will not reliably match it. The trailing stems root readily where they touch the soil, so it is easily multiplied by lifting rooted pieces or by taking short stem cuttings and letting them callus briefly before setting them in a gritty mix.
Common problems
- Rot — the main risk, caused by winter wet or heavy, slow-draining soil; crowns and roots soften and collapse. Sharp drainage is the cure.
- Legginess / poor flowering — in too little light the mat grows loose and flowers sparsely; give it the sunniest spot available.
- Pests — generally trouble-free outdoors, though aphids and mealybugs can appear on soft new growth (see Pests and diseases).
See also
- Delosperma — the genus overview
- Soil and potting mix · Watering · Propagation — cuttings · Repotting