Porchalaca??

Does anyone here know what Porchalacas are? I spelled it phonetically...

Thanks for your help...

Apparently chickens do not dig them up or eat them. :rose

Ha, someone after my own phonetic heart. I was probably 20, 25 years old before it really dawned on me that they are *not* called Porchalacas on account of that's what my mom always grew along the edge of the front porch. Hey, it makes total sense when you're little, and then you get so used to the idea...

The rest of the world spells it "Portulaca", and it is a brightly-colored succulent annual that does real well on heat, full bright sun, drought (still needs some water of course) and well drained soil. The leaves are sort of like, I dunno, succulent inflated pine needles and the flowers are really pretty if you like bright bright colors. They're not, uh, subtle but personally I like them. Along the porch where they belong, or elsewhere <g> They will bloom pretty much all season if treated decently. Some places they self-seed.

My parents' next door neighbor goes out every spring and sprinkles the contents of a packet of mixed-color Portulaca in the narrow crack where the road pavement meets the curb in front of his house, and by July has a bright swath of happily-blooming 'weeds' along the asphalt. (I should add this is a north-facing curb, dunno as it'd work facing the sun ) He was really ticked off last year when they came along and repaved the road a month after he 'planted' them

Pat

Thanks Pat...I found out that they are small plants and you must plant them en mass to get a really good showing. Maybe I'll check out the seeds...but my flock is free range and I'm sure they'd eat them up before I even got them in the ground. My 'heirloom' vegetable garden is getting the FENCE because they keep eating and digging and dust bathing in there.
Thanks for your reply...

do u have any pics?

some varieties are invasive and weedy. i dont care for the moss rose, which you see in stores the most.

http://www.tucsongardener.com/Year02/Spring2002/Purslane.htm
http://www.floridata.com/ref/P/port_gra.cfm

http://www.catnapin.com/WildWeeds/Flowers-multi/mmPurslane.htm

beefy said:

some varieties are invasive and weedy. i dont care for the moss rose, which you see in stores the most.

http://www.tucsongardener.com/Year02/Spring2002/Purslane.htm
http://www.floridata.com/ref/P/port_gra.cfm

http://www.catnapin.com/WildWeeds/Flowers-multi/mmPurslane.htm

Click to expand...

You bet they are! I'm still pulling them up from two years ago!

there is one pictured in one of those links that is ALL OVER the farm here. its has tiny hot pink flowers and narrowish leaves. its not even a pretty weed...

those are all pretty

Hi Eveeryone!! I am new to this forum, my grandmother loved these flowers and so do I , she had old castiron pots( huge ones) hung by chains inside of wagonwheel rings and inside these she planted the beautiful little flowers, she just called them "moss", I never really knew what they were called though, thanks for the information, we live in Oklahoma USA and it grows very well here.

and it is edible. I went to a friends house and she gave me a taco-thingy. I asked her what she made it from and I couldn't understand (My spanish doesn't include very many plant names). She took me to her back yard and showed me the portulaca.