Moss Rose (Portulaca) questions...

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MTGardenGirl Great Falls, MT Jun 17, 2010

I'm new to moss rose, but got 7 full flats of them for free! I recently moved into a new house and the previous owners decided to cover up all good planting space with river rock and it's been hard to figure out what to plant here. I got the moss rose and after I did my research, I realized that I had the perfect plant for the dry, sunbeaten rock beds that surround my house. I dug up a lot of the rock, amended the soil with sand, peat and a little compost and planted probably about a couple hundred plants. They did beautifully for the first week and I was really excited. We normally don't get much rain in this part of MT during the summer, but it has now been raining steadily for 5 days. I'm worried that they're all going to die off from too much water. It will be sunny and dry in a few days and even though they look pretty good, I'm afraid that they won't be able to last that long. Does anyone have any experience with moss rose getting too much water? Should I be worried?

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jun 17, 2010

If they're not showing any stress yet and it's going to dry out in a few days I wouldn't worry yet. And it sounds like your drainage is good so I suspect they'll be alright.

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MTGardenGirl Great Falls, MT Jun 28, 2010

Thanks! They're doing great! I do have some concerns about ants though. The other night, I saw hundreds of ants all over the dying flowers-tearing them apart. I guess they're helping them along??? Also, in the heat of the day I've noticed that the leaves kind of fold up on the stem- could it be that they're getting too much sun and trying to conserve their water? I've tried to water a little bit when I see the leaves do that- the one's that get more shade don't fold up. Anybody have any ideas?

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ehignutt Millville, NJ Jun 29, 2010

They fold up to conserve water. As long as they are unfolding by morning I wouldn't worry. If they are still folded the next morning then water. Moss roses are usually pretty self sufficient.

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