Portulaca and Purslane

We talked about succulents last month, and these crops are two groups there wasn't space for in that column. With all the emphasis on low water use and the constant demand for color, these two crops should be a mainstay for growers. Incorporating drought-tolerant crops into your portfolio not only saves on inputs but also shows that, as an industry, we can supply plants to create beautiful landscapes and work within reasonable water guidelines.

There are some new introductions and new colors everywhere in both groups of plants, also some new specialty forms that are really worthy of note. In general, the way to tell portulaca (Portulaca grandiflora) from purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is that portulaca has cylindrical leaves and purslane has flat teardrop or ovate shaped leaves. Both are equally drought tolerant, and all current breeding efforts have worked to keep the blooms open throughout the daylight hours; however, older selections may begin to close in the early afternoon. For consumers, the attraction to these flowers is that they are succulent and reflective, as well as tolerant of abuse in the landscape. The colors, which are basically available in all hues except blue, have a translucent intensity, and retailers need to market the plants in full sun for best effect.

Crop Essentials

Portulaca is essentially a seed-produced crop, and is available in a wide range of colors and textures -- from semi double to fully double flowers and a full line of strong, solid colors to complement the bicolor or two tones. Seed is available in both mixes (of solid and bicolor as well as mixed solid colors) and single colors, but pay special attention to the available mixes. In many cases, mixes sell better than solid colors because they offer consumers a selection of plants to choose from. Plus, there are some really good color blends out there. I saw PanAmerican Seed's 'Margarita Pastel Mix' at the 2003 Pack Trials and was really impressed with it. Designer mixes are becoming more popular in a variety of seed crops, and I think it's a good trend.

The most notable difference between series is growth habit. There are mounding and prostrate forms of both portulaca and purslane. The mounding types are an advantage in the container as they fill a pot upwards rather than spreading out and filling a pot with less canopy. Prostrate types would be better for the basket market and for mixed containers where you need a low-water-requiring trailing flower. The Sunseeker series from Sakata Seed America and the Margarita series from PanAmerican are both mounding types. The Sundial series from Bodger Seed is a vigorous mounding variety with a strong garden performance.

In the vegetative market the selection is huge in this crop, with both patented and non-patented varieties available. A few years ago, the single-flowered Yubi series from Sakata really bumped up the quality and the flowering duration of this crop. Since then, Sakata has released a series of Double Yubi types, and there have been some significant improvements from other breeding companies as well. The neatest introductions are the double forms that have been emerging over the last couple of years. These series offer big improvements in vigor and flowering, as well as some advances in colors. So in doubles look for Sakata's Double Yubi series and the new FairyTales series from Ball FloraPlant. I think the showstopper in the FairyTales series is Cinderella (cerise and yellow bicolor), but the other two colors (solids in yellow and white) are also strong and received really strong ratings from Allan Armitage's trial garden in Athens, Ga., and Bob Lyons' trial at the JC Raulston Arboretum at N.C. State University, Raleigh, N.C. I think the unique qualities of these doubles will be a great addition to most grower's bedding plant palate. The doubles are a little bit heavier feeders and have a little bit slower finish time than their single counterparts. In Á some cases, a pinch may be helpful to get good early branching as well.

In the single-flowered purslane, the Yubi types are still major players, but there are some new introductions here as well that you should check out. The Hot Shots series from Bodger Botanicals has been a really strong performer here in our trial gardens at the University of Florida last year, and Duet from Sakata has some really nice color breaks and unique markings. These are usually a bit more vigorous than double types, but use drought stress as a control for that; they respond really well to it and pop back into flower quickly.

If you are a retailer, be thinking of using these two crops in some of your toughest low water display areas. The plants are heat tolerant and require high light (with a preference for reflected light) and dry conditions once established. You can use this information to motivate sales as well because most gardeners want to be successful with very little input. That means portulaca and purslane were custom made for that portion of our buying public.