The annual flowering plant known as Portulaca is a
well-known favorite found in all garden centers. This plant is
particularly successful here as it takes the heat and full sun of summer.
The sparking, florescent flowers produced by the Portulaca are new every
day. Should this flower be in your garden?
To begin, there are several species of Portulaca which tend
to get lumped together. For instance, Portulaca grandiflora has a
cylindrical leaf (almost needle-like) and is commonly
called the moss rose. Another species is Portulaca oleracea which
has a flat leaf and is most commonly called purslane. While some
varieties of purslane are ornamental, some are known for their edible
qualities. Some purslane may even show up in your yard as weed!
Just to keep it simple, let’s call of these just plain Portulaca.
As a general statement, Portulaca have bright colored
flowers ranging from red to yellow, orange, pink and white in both single and
double flowering forms. There are even some with attractive bicolor
flowers with spots and stipes of other colors. Most if not all of these
have a habit of opening when the sun is bright and closing on cloudy
days. Newer cultivars such as ‘Sundance’ and ‘Afternoon Delight’ were
developed to stay open longer on into the afternoon as well as in cloudier
weather. The use of Portulaca as a groundcover works well as most are
barely six-inches tall and around twelve- inches wide. Best sites for the
annual include those in full sun and well-drained soil.
Portulaca seeds are available and very easy to
germinate. The seeds are very small, so plant enough in sterile potting
medium in pots to transplant later to the final bed, or start them direct-seeded where
you intend them to grow. Established plants will produce thousands of
seeds which may volunteer the next
year. Cuttings can also be rooted to expand your planting stock.
One note on the edible varieties grown specifically as a
vegetable. Just like the ornamental types, the leaves are very
fleshy and succulent. They also tend
to have smaller yellow flowers.
Cultivated varieties are available from some seed catalogs if you are
interested. The plants are eaten raw or cooked and are said to taste like
watercress or spinach. The tiny seeds are also reported to be
edible.
If you have had no success with other summer flowering annuals, the Portulaca is sure not
to disappoint! For more information on all types of summer-hardy flowers,
please call our Master Gardener volunteers on the Plant Lifeline on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 4 pm at 764-4340 for gardening help and
insight into their role as an Extension volunteer. Don't forget to visit
our other County Plant Clinics in the area. Please check this link for a
complete list of site locations, dates and times - http://charlotte.ifas.ufl.edu/horticulture/Plant%20Clinics%20Schedule.pdf.
Resources:
Gilman, E. F. & Howe, T. (1999) Portulaca
grandiflora. The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS.
Stephens, J. M. (2015) Purslane - Portulaca oleracea.
The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS.
Christman, S. (2014) Portulaca oleracea.
Floridata.com, Tallahassee, Fl.
Christman, S. (2003) Portulaca grandiflora.
Floridata.com, Tallahassee, Fl.
Mason, S. (2016) Purslane – Weed It or Eat It? University of
Illinois Extension Service. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
No comments:
Post a Comment