Brian Minter: Changing conditions call for showstopper succulents

Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.

As summer heats up, we’re all looking for easy-to-grow drought tolerant plants to give us lots of colour.

The diversity and selection of succulent type plants has never been greater, and now is a great time to add them to both our garden beds and containers.

While there are lots of tender succulents available, it’s the durable hardy varieties which most of need to rely upon as long lasting perennials.

Perhaps the most colourful are hardy ice plants, or delosperma. Native to South Africa, these ground cover plants are hardy to Zone 5 and as a rule will flower in a wide range of colours from June into August.

They need well-drained soil in which to grow and a gravelly mulch to keep their crowns dry in winter. When first planted, regular summer watering is essential to help them get established, but after that they seem to require little water to keep them looking fresh. Their tiny daisy-like flowers come in the most vibrant shades of red, yellow, orange, hot pink and even white. As with all ice plants, they perform best in full sun but the blooms will close at night and often during some darker, cloudier days.

Some of the most under-rated succulents are the larger growing sedums. Sedum, from sedeo, its Latin nomenclature, means “the thing which sits.” This refers to its ability, because of its highly efficient root system, to establish itself almost anywhere, especially in well drained soils but also near rocks. More commonly known as Stonecrop or Wall-pepper, sedum leaves have evolved as water storage vessels so they can sustain themselves during