Another Sun Jewel

their gorgeous

Thats gorgeous Bernieh....what is it?....

Beautiful blooms

Wow, what fantastic blooms! What are they called, please? And where do they grow? Would love some here in the UK but dont't think it is likely they will grow well here.

I'm so happy to find out the name of this! I bought some from a Chinese nursery and he told me it was something like Oriental portulaca!
One thing I did find was that it spreads really easily! We'll see if any of the seed survived the winter.

Hi Joyoustub. I have quite a few of these plants - they are called 'Portulaca grandiflora' and they grow so easily over here but I'm not sure how they would go in the UK. They need lots of sunlight and are usually grown in temperate climates - I think they originated from South America. We call them Sun Jewels but they can also be called Moss Rose. I also have the what I think is the native version, at least, the one that has an Aboriginal name as well - I will post a photo of that later.

Hi Milky - yes these are called 'Portulaca grandiflora' or Sun Jewels as we call them over here. The nuseries come out with more spectaular ones every year. They have great flowers which close up at night and open with the first light of the day. They are very hardy and flower for quite a few months.

We grow portulaca around here Bernieh and it does great. Very drought tolerant. Loves the heat. Self seeds like crazy. So, I think if I can grow them here then they should be fine in the UK.

Gillian ~ trust me you will have portulaca coming up all over your garden despite the winter. :o)

Thanks Gilli - fascinating to hear that they grow there as well. Yeah they are a plant that keeps popping up and go quite some time without a lot of watering. I just love all the different colours of them. Love to see Gillian's when they come out.

If you go to page 36 (yes, I know that's a long way!) of my photos you'll see pictures of mine.
They are interesting, different to the regular portulaca I'm familiar with, seem to spread more like a weed!

Gillian checked out your photos - same plant. Yes they do spread like a weed and give great coverage. I also loved your impatiens - have a few of those myself but I particularly liked your New Guinea. I haven't had much success with that one but will keep trying.

Wow they're interesting, very unusual! Thanks for all your comments Bernieh!