another question

[jdkline]

Do moss roses come back if you plant them in the ground? Someone was asking me this the other day and I didnt have an answer. Just curious to see what everyone has to say about it. Remember I am in zone 5 so that will probably make a difference too.
Thanks
Deb

[zuzu's petals]

Zone 5 is the coldest zone specified for Portulaca hardiness,
I would think that a harder than average winter would probably kill them.

[gardeningmom]

I am in zone 6b and portulaca grows as an annual here. My mom sometimes has is come back but I think it might reseed itself and she is just lucky!

[Mandy]

I'm in zone 6a and have had portulaca reseed itself in a container for yrs. but I also have a section along a walkway that I routinely have to reseed or put fresh plants in. I'm lucky if a few reseed in the ground.

[zuzu's petals]

Ah, good info, G'mom and Mandy.
There's some personal experience, which is usually the best answer.

There are so many variable factors, including how much wintertime moisture an area gets,
and how frequently (and drastically) the temperatures rise and fall.

Sometimes, a good, stable zone 5 winter isn't as hard on certain plants
as a location that has a warmer "average" temp, but experiences more ups and downs,
especially if there is frequent freeze and thaw (and re-freeze and re-thaw, etc.) of snow and/or rainfall.

[ok_nurse]

When I was a child, my mom had them around her yellow locust tree in the front of the yard. Every year they came up. She just threw some fertilizer on the soil in the spring-if even that. That was east MI. I have tried and tried to grow them from seed here. This spring I bought 500 seeds on ebay. they germinated in a towel, but I have one small struggling plant in the barren area I planted the seed. I think the soil has a lot to do with the ability of these seeds to germinate. If you throw them on well drained, healthy fertile soil and keep it good, I bet you could get them to come back where you live.
Good luck.
-Donna

[bali]

Mine freeze.Zone 5