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Portulaca grandiflora 'Cerise' (Cerise Moss Rose) - An evergreen perennial, often used as an annual, low-growing succulent 3 to 9 inches tall by 1 to 2 feet wide with succulent narrow lanceolate 1-inch-long green leaves along reddish stems and bright colored 3 inch wide cerise colored flowers that appear summer through fall.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and water occasionally to infrequently. Hardy to a light frost - treat it as a tender perennial in USDA Hardiness Zones 9 through 11 and an annual elsewhere. A great plant for containers, hanging baskets, as a ground cover in a rock garden or sprawling over a wall or around other larger succulents.
Our plants of Portulaca grandiflora were from a discovery of a cultivated plants growing in a Bali garden that made its way back into cultivation in the US and were given to us by the amazing plantsman John Bleck, who grew them for several years in his Goleta, California garden before deeming them worthy enough for us to put into production. To distinguish it from other selections we called it Portulaca grandiflora 'Cerise'. We also grow a very nice white flowering form we call Portulaca grandiflora 'Blanca' and from 2020 to 2022 we grew a double pink flowering form called Portulaca grandiflora 'Double Cerise'.
Portulaca grandiflora is native to southern Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. Many other forms of Portulaca grandiflora have double flowers with the related Portulaca umbraticola, commonly called Purslane, usually having single flowers so these large single flowering forms are pretty unusual in the nursery trade. Both Portulaca umbraticola and the edible garden weed, Portulaca oleracea, also commonly called Purslane, have flattened paddle shaped leaves with a rounded tip while Portulaca grandiflora has narrow lanceolate leaves. Portulaca grandiflora is often listed as an annual that can re-seed, but in our near frost-free southern California gardens this plant has proven to a semi-evergreen perennial. The name for the genus comes from the Latin name for edible purslane, Portulaca oleracea, and the specific epithet means large flowers.
This information about Portulaca grandiflora 'Cerise' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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