Who says the summers are dry......

Who says the summers are dry......

Who says the summers are dry? Not me! Though, it's not the right time as we are still to experience summers this year, still, as a prep, I'm putting this post, dealing with a particular summer beauty -- The Moss Rose, (Portulaca Grandiflora), also known as 9'o clock or 10'o clock, as it usually blooms at that time in the morning.

Moss roses, as far as I know and feel about them, are plants belonging to the the xerophytic group of plants (the same one, to which the cactuses belong). Xerophytes, according to wikipedia, are "plants that has adapted to survive in an environment that lacks average or sufficient amounts of water, such as a desert."  This is because of the hardiness of the moss rose to harsh environmental conditions. As everyone here might be knowing, that moss roses may live on for a week or so without actually getting any nutrition, and this makes moss roses such a loved variety of ornamental plants.

Moss roses, have been grown into numerous cultivars (varieties), bringing about a change into the flower shape and characteristics like number of petals, colours, etc., and that's why moss roses are widely used as ornamental plants. I too, since my childhood, have been planting moss roses wherever I've been or lived, as their requirements are not too much and can easily sustain in harshest of environmental conditions. I have collected three colours of the double variety of moss roses. The white one, the dark pink one and the mixed (white-pink) variety. Although the moss rose is an annual, here in India, it blooms in summer season only, for about five odd months from around end of March to late August and sometimes into September also. Its low nutritional and water requirements and not-at-all-fuzzy nature, it may very easily be used in a decorative manner, can be planted in beds, can be put up in hung up baskets in balconies, window sills and in pots also. The thing is, just like other plants, the moss roses also love care, and thrive happily, and can actually produce large flowers. Here are a few examples:

White-Pink Moss Rose.

White-Pink Moss Rose.

White-Pink Moss Rose.

White-Pink Moss Rose.

Though, I have the pink and the white coloured varieties too, those were not such appealing, or probably, I couldn't capture one. The catch being - "Being at the right place at the right time." Moss roses can be very decorative. These continuously bloom for their entire blooming period, each flower lasting a day, and couples of flowers blooming everyday look actually nice.