Portulaca (Portulaca)

Portulaca is the summer annual for the spots in your garden that other plants give up on. Blazing heat, dry sandy soil, reflected heat from pavement, drought, all of it just encourages portulaca to bloom harder. The small succulent leaves are adapted to store water, and the cheerful single or double flowers in shades of yellow, orange, pink, red, and white open in full sun and close at night or on cloudy days, a charming quirk that makes them especially lively on a sunny afternoon.

This plant shines in rock gardens, along the edges of raised beds, in parking strip plantings, or anywhere the soil is lean and drainage is sharp. It asks for very little, virtually no fertilizer, infrequent watering once established, and no deadheading. It self-seeds gently in many gardens, often returning in subsequent years from dropped seed.

On the Oregon coast portulaca performs best in the warmest, most sheltered microclimates since it truly loves heat. A south-facing raised bed, a sun-warmed gravel garden, or a container on a hot patio are ideal.