Portulaca grandiflora

If you are a new gardener and want to plant something that grows fast and won't go wrong chose the rose moss or Japanese rose.  This is a succulent plant that grows easily without much care required. Just ensure the plant has water and plenty of sun. Yes, it will soon bloom and gosh the blooms will be plentiful once it starts ! Everyday they will bloom, and the blooms can be irresistible as they are so fresh looking. The plant grows fast if it has enough water and sun. The set back is the flowers only open around mid morning when it gets a bit warmer, then by mid afternoon the flower is all about done. The flowers are really pretty under the bright sunlight.

To propagate, all one need to do is pinch about a section of the plant - perhaps about 4 to 5 inches, and stick it into some fresh, well drained soil. The plant takes roots fast enough. If the section you pinch off has a bud, the bud will still bloom. If you can get the plant with roots, better still.  Just  do not forget to water the  plant and keep it moist  when it is growing.  Place  the plant  under the  sun, it loves the sun, and will bloom happily daily. A bit of shade is alright  but if too shady, the blooms might never appear. This plant is also called the sun plant, rather apt, I think.

I tried planting the rose moss as a ground cover, but it soon spread all the over the place and out of control. Perhaps this was because I was reluctant to trim and cut them. Another problem is snails. Snails so love the plant.  So these days I plant them in pots.  I plant them in hanging pots as well as stand pots.  A shallow pot will do as the roots do  not go deep, just superficial. I also started trimming them when the plant grows all long and dangles here and there.  The more I trim the more compact it became. The rose moss is an interesting plant indeed with its succulent stems and leaves. 

One thing about this plant is it is vulnerable to mealybugs. Yes, those  white  horrible pests that is every gardener's nightmare......!  Just keep a lookout for them.  To keep the plant healthy, I feed it with some fertilizers. The blooms are bigger and the stems stronger.

I have collected eight colors - pink, light purple, deep purple, red, orange, yellow, mixed pink / white and the white.  Below is what happens when the genetic material in the plant gets mixed up.....when two different colors are planted in a same pot. I have noticed that when the genetic material gets mixed up,  the bloom will be distorted and won't bloom in a perfect shape. However  these two mixed  seemed to bloom rather well,  so I am keeping  them  and see what happens next.