The recent unseasonably warm weather was no problem for any remaining moss rose, Portulaca grandiflora. They usually start to look rather tired as the weather gets cooler this time of year, and eventually succumb to the first frost. Where allowed to do so, they can regenerate next year from seed. I like to collect their seed during the summer or autumn so that I can sow them after the last frost of the following winter. Through spring and summer, I find that additional plants are easy to grow from cuttings.
The inch wide flowers are white, pink, red, orange or yellow, with only a few ruffled petals. Modern varieties that have rufflier ‘double’ flowers and richer colors still seem to be less popular than the more delicate traditional types. The cylindrical and succulent leaves are only about an inch long. The small plants can get more than six inches deep where they are happy or crowded. Moss rose likes good exposure and decent soil, but does not need the rich soil that most other annuals demand. Nor does it necessarily need such regular watering.
Tony Tomeo 
That was one of grandma’s favorite flowers. For some reason she called them spiders. There are nice colors.
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What an odd name. My mother liked them because they grew over the septic system at her grandmothers home. Weirdly, they did not do so well, and did not self sow much.
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I never knew why she called them that.
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When I was a child, the Hurley’s lived down the street and every year they planted these in front of their house by the sidewalk. I thought they were magical and still love to see them.
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They seem to have been a traditional flower. Many of us can remember them from a long time ago. I am one of the few who did not remember them, and only met them when my mother had me grow some . . . because she remembered them from here maternal grandmother’s home.
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