Sunday, July 26, 2009

What NOT To Do - Plant the wrong companion plants


Portulacas ("moss roses") are wonderful annual plants that take dry conditions very well. They are also wonderful companion plants with the right companions. Last year, I did something that you should NOT do. I planted my portulacas at the base of roses. Why not? Aren't they commonly called "moss roses" anyway? The trouble is that portulaca don't drink nearly as much water as roses. In order to keep my roses happy I had to water them way more than the portulacas appreciated. The roses looked wonderful, but the portulacas under them became straggly, ugly, and developed root rot. The above picture was taken before the portulaca started looking bad. The moral of the story is to do your homework and plant compatible plants together. Live and learn!

2 comments:

Ginger said...

Great tip, thanks!

Moss roses come back in the cracks of my mom's driveway every year, so I always thought they were perennials!

A1 Chandigarh said...

What a very impressive post. I am glad for the share. Now that you mention it, I guess I should allocate a space for hoe test. I really don't have one. Wow its a very good post. The information provided by you is really very good and helpful for me. Keep sharing good information..