Thursday, September 7, 2017

My mini "fried-egg plant"


Plants are strange, there's really no predicting what they might decide to do. Last summer I grew a bunch of yellow Portulaca, a 6-pack of cheap plants from the grocery store...

Late last fall I put the planter in the garage to dry up (I didn't want to test to see if it was frost proof) and left it there over our cold winter. Portulaca dead dead (duplicate word used on purpose) — although they were so lovely while they lasted.

This spring I dug out the dead plant's roots, placed a couple of Agaves at the top and stuffed a few small Sempervivum in the pockets. Then this happened. A Portulaca started to grow...

And then started to bloom.

I couldn't help but notice how much they look like mini Romneya coulteri flowers (Matilija Poppy / Fried-egg plant).

There must have been some white-blooming Portulaca seeds left in the soil? Strange indeed...

Weather Diary, Sept 6: Hi 82, Low 65/ Precip 0 — the air is still dangerously, depressingly, thick with smoke

All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

22 comments:

  1. You need a pleasant little surprise at the moment to distract you from all the distressing things happening around you. And boy, do they ever look like those poppies. I saw them years ago in Santa Barbara and have been smitten ever since.

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  2. Mini Fried Egg plant! That is just fabulous. A new lust list must. Cheers

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  3. Matilija poppies or tree peonies, that little portulaca is really working it. What a lovely surprise. I do hope your air clears up soon!

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    1. Yesterday afternoon was much better, there was actual sky visible!

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  4. I've heard that Portulaca will self-sow. Maybe the ones from last year made seedpods that broke open and dropped seeds into the soil? Either way, it's a really nice addition to the pot.

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    1. The pot has such tiny little pockets of soil, they certainly got lucky.

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  5. How cool! A nice, welcome surprise indeed. Plants are full of mystery sometimes, aren't they?

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  6. The strange and wonderful ways of plants keep us guessing, don't they?

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  7. Full of surprises your garden is! This one is especially nice.

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    1. Agreed. I wonder what I will discover next?

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  8. Now you've got me wondering if I should try growing Portulaca from seed! They're annuals even here.

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    1. I was thinking the same thing. I will pay more attention to the seed envelopes next spring, these are lovely.

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  9. My portulaca self-sow even in zone 5, but of course they never come true to color as they seem to revert. Your white ones look great with the other plants in that pot.

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    1. Revert to? Is there a standard? I absolutely love these.

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  10. Not only a pleasant surprise, but also a perfect fit to the color scheme in the pot. I hope you like the surprise enough not to cut off the flowers...

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    1. Oh gosh no! I wouldn't do that. I'm not a flower hater! (just Hosta flowers, and Ligularia flowers, and...)

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  11. Oh cool that they have self seeded!

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