Are you living in a heat and drought area and want to grow some beautiful flowers that are heat tolerant? Then no doubt, moss rose is a great option for you.
Otherwise named portulaca, Eleven O’clock, Purslane, and Sun Plant, these plants are native to South America, or Portulaca.
Although moss rose can grow well in mid-summer, it requires little moisture to thrive and grow well.
With the height of 8 inches, the plant produces vividly colored blooms in the shades of orange, purple, pink, red, yellow, and white during the early frost.
This plant can do its best in the flower garden, or border edging in a rock garden, or as bedding cover or as a ground cover. They also can thrive well and look good in a hanging pot or in a container.
Not only the flowers can make your garden look beautiful, but the seeds of these plants are also very useful that are edible raw, or cooked. The seed also can be ground up and put into recipes, soups, and sauces.
To grow moss rose plants, sow the seeds in the ground early in the season and cover lightly with 1/8″ of fine garden or seed starting soil. Click To TweetHow to grow moss rose from seeds?
Moss rose plants can be grown through seeds. For the growth of the moss rose plant, the seeds can be directly planted into the flower garden or can be seeded indoors for transplanting later.
To grow moss rose plants, sow the seeds in the ground early in the season and cover lightly with 1/8″ of fine garden or seed starting soil. The ideal spacing of the plant is ten inches apart.
Seeds will start germinating after one to two weeks of seed plantation. You can also use a seedling germination pat for planting it indoors.
Don’t set out the seedlings until after the last frost date in your area as moss rose plants are very susceptible to frost.
Besides this method, you can also grow it from established plants by cuttings.
Varieties of moss rose
There are a lot of varieties of moss roses from which you can choose. But before that, you have to familiarize yourself with some popular cultivars. So let’s know some of the important varieties of it.
Sundance
Sundance moss roses are semi-double flowers which means they have two times the amount of Petal as other varieties of moss roses.
Besides one another advantage of this plant is that their blooms tend to open longer than the other average flowers.
Calypso mix
Calypso mix is each one of the popular varieties of moss roses that feature double blooms in a variety of shades like red, orange, and yellow.
Duet
As the name said that, the duet cultivar is a bicolor flower that Boasts vibrant petals of yellow and red.
Fairy tale series
Fairy tales series is another variety of mos Rose that has pom pom centers which are encircled by flat outer petals. This series also comes in various enchanting varieties with the names like Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping beauty.
Happy hour series
As the name said the happy hour series is the variety of moss roses that blooms earlier than the other varieties. This series comes in a variety of bright colours that have various fruity names like coconut and banana.
How to care for moss rose plants?
Moss rose is ideal for small gardens as it doesn’t spread outside of its boundary.
The moss rose plant is a low-maintenance plant and requires a little care. So the caring guidance of the moss rose plant includes
Light
A moss rose plant requires a lot of light. They grow and bloom well when they get direct sunlight of six to eight hours on most days. If it grows this plant in a shady pant, then it doesn’t produce flowers and the growing flowers don’t likely to open their petals.
Water
Although moss roses are not drought tolerant, they need low moisture levels.
They can tolerate dryness for a longer period, however, well-drained soil with proper moisture content rewards the plant with better flowering.
The plant doesn’t require watering if it is
raining occasionally. But it isn’t raining regularly, you can do one deep watering per week during the hot summer season.
Soil
The moss rose plant grows well in the sandy and rocky soil with a good drainage system. If you grow the plant in soil that retains too much water it can easily rot roots and kill the plant. So if your garden has clayey soil, consider planting it in a container or pot.
Temperature
Being native to the temperate regions like Brazil, Argentina, and Brazil, the moss rose grows well when it gets high heat. It doesn’t mean it can’t tolerate cool weather, but until the weather is frost-free.
Humidity
A moss rose plant requires the humidity level to be lower.
Fertilizer
Being moss roses are tolerant to the lean soil, they don’t need fertilizer. However, providing the plant with a balanced, slow-release fertilizer during planting promotes healthy growth and profuse flowering.
Besides, fertilizing the plant with phosphorus-containing fertilizer twice during the growing season can shower it with more beautiful blooms.
Pruning of moss rose plants is often required to increase air circulation, bring a neater appearance, and reduce the chances of fungal diseases. Click To TweetHow to prune a moss rose plant?
Pruning of moss rose plants is often required to increase air circulation, bring a neater appearance, and reduce the chances of fungal diseases.
The ideal time for pruning a this is early spring before the new growth and after the last hard frost.
Pruning of the moss rose plant should be done with a long blade pruning knife or a shear as well. Before pruning, rinse the instrument with alcohol to disinfect the plant and reduce the chances of diseases.
To prune the moss rose plant, hold the shear at a 45 degrees angle and slope the angle towards the middle of the plant. Cut the extra growth of the plant as required.
How to propagate moss rose?
- Just like most succulent plants, moss rose also can be propagated through stem cutting. Most gardeners can be successful with this method.
- Here is the step of the propagation of moss rose.
- Make a cutting on the mother plant that had bloomed using a sharp and clean shear. The cutting should be 4inch long with including one node.
- Remove the flowers and leaves from the cutting.
- Place the stem cutting in a small bowl of water.
- Prepare a small pot with some moist, well-drained Sand mixture, soil, and peat moss.
- Bury the cut stem in the soil three inches deep into the soil.
- To trap humidity, Cover the pot with a plastic bag or some other things.
- Move the pot to a place where it can get bright and filtered light with the required temperature. Water it occasionally. Cutting will start rooting within two weeks.
Common pests and diseases
Moss rose plants are very susceptible to Aphids, gnats, and other insects that can pose a problem. If it happens, treat the plant with insecticide or repellents, as needed.
Fungus diseases can also occur in moss roses. So when the problem appears, use a general-purpose fungicide specifically in humid weather.
If the plant remains in the wet soil for a long time, the root and stem rot also can occur. This problem can be avoided by planting the moss rose in sandy, or other well-draining soil. Besides that, a slightly elevated planting bed also can help to avoid this problem.
Conclusion
Reading this far of the article might have provided all the information to plant a moss rose plant in your garden.
No doubt, moss rose is a very beautiful and attractive plant that can add beauty to your garden with a little maintenance.
So planting this plant in your garden may be worth it and rewards you with its beauty.
So why the delay? Read the instructions above and plant this beautiful moss rose plant in your outdoor garden.
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