What a bright, cheery day it is!!

What day is it today? If it is a bright sunny day, then it will be just the perfect day for the Portulaca grandiflora to greet us with its bright, cheery colourful blooms. Portulaca grandiflora or commonly known as Rose Moss, Mexican Roses, 11 o'clock flower, etc (locally known as Ros Jepun) is a shrub bearing a lively mixture of colourful flowers either in single or double petals. It is a sun-loving tough plant, suitable for tough places and the flowers will only bloom under sunlight and due to this nature, they are popularly selected to be planted as a ground cover.



The Portulaca grandiflora comes from the family Portulacaceae where comprises of more than 40 species with different flower colours, leaves shapes & sizes, etc. Some of the known species are edible, to be either use as a culinary herb or for its medicinal properties but NOT the ornamental flowering species as the shown in the above pictures.

Portulaca can either be germinated using seeds (usually sell in packets) or propagated by using stem cuttings. The seeds & the stem cuttings can be directly sown onto a well-drained, sandy medium. If they are grown in planters, it is advisable to place the planters in a sunny position for the portulaca to grow successfully & continuously producing flowers. The sprawling stems should be frequently neatly trimmed/cut to about 10 cm to encourage new buds. Water them frequently during dry spells and fertilize them once in a while so as to produce healthy plants & shoots.