I discovered Flower Friday while visiting Lorilin@Bugbugbooks and decided to begin sharing some flower pictures from our gardens along with some information about them. Please check out Lorilin’s blog if you haven’t already for book reviews and more!
Last time I shared: Screaming Neon Red Rose
I’ll be creating a Flower Friday page where all previous Flower Friday shares will be available by links.
Today’s share:
Baby Mantis & Moss Rose Purslane
We have a little baby mantis living in a flower box on our deck. It’s an amazing experience seeing this guy come out to hunt every morning. We’ve had handfuls of these pop up in our landscaping in the past, but it’s been at least a few years. As of now this one is about the size of a quarter. We hope it stays!
Here’s a short video of it hunting for flies. I’m always amazed with how they turn their little heads. You’ll have to forgive me on the audio; my children are quite loud.
This year we decided to put moss rose purslane in two of the deck boxes. They’ve flourished with tons of blooms.
We’ve grown these in the ground before but not in a container. One nice thing is that even though these are annuals, they reseed, and some will come back the following year.
“Portulaca grandiflora is a succulent flowering plant in the family Portulacaceae, native to Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay and often cultivated in gardens. It has many common names, including rose moss, eleven o’clock, Mexican rose, moss rose, sun rose, rock rose, and moss-rose purslane.” – Wikipedia
Thanks for checking out Flower Friday! What do you have blooming this week? Have a wonderful weekend!
🧡 Mischenko
ReadRantRock&Roll 
I think my double tiger lilies should finally bloom soon. 😀
Baby mantis is SO cute!
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We’re waiting for some of ours too. So far, all the lilies have been excellent this year. Hope yours are too! 🧡
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Thanks! They’re extra tall this year!
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I never thought I’d say a baby mantis is cute…but he/she is 😄
I love rock roses, and have planted some myself. Yours are gorgeous 💚
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Isn’t it cute? I can’t say we’ve ever seen one so small. Thanks, Cathy. I’d love to see yours too. 💜
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They’re not flowering yet but I’ll take some pictures when they do 🙂
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Love those colorful flowers in container. It looks beautiful.
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Thanks, Yesha. 😉
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He’s an adorable little guy. Maybe he’ll stay for a while. I haven’t grown moss rose for years – and I don’t think I ever tried it in a pot, but yours look so healthy. Think I’ll give it a try next year.
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We hope so, Teri. The kids think it’s their pet. 😆 It’ll really be something if we can watch it grow.
Hope you try these again. Have a great weekend, Teri. 😃
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Even baby mantises are cute, aren’t they? It picked a perfect place for bug hunting. Love those beautiful flowers 🌺
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They’re such beautiful creatures. I’m not a huge bug person, but these are on my favorite’s list! Thanks, Tessa. ❤️ Enjoy your weekend.
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That was a great video, I’m surprised he let you get so close. I grew portulacas many years ago, but not lately. I should give them a try again next year. Yours are beautiful Jen.
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It was leery at first, but there’s just too much going on for it to pay attention to me. Thanks, Carla. We took a break from these for a few years. They’ve been the strongest this year. It just seems like all the flowers are doing exceptionally well this season.
I hope you grow some next season! Thank you ❤️
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Moss rose was one of your grandma’s favorites. I’m happy to see you’re carrying on the tradition.
The video is just amazing!
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I remember! It’s something I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to when I was younger, but I do remember. Looking forward to growing tons of these next year with all the seed. Thanks! 🧡
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I love the baby mantis. We always have one or two (adult mantis) that cling to the screen of our French door each year. They seem to come in conjunction with “leaf bugs.” I always look forward to them.
Your flowers are gorgeous!
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That’s so neat, Mae! I’d look forward to that too. The leaf bugs equally amaze me. They’re all so big. Thanks for checking out FF. Have a good weekend. ❤️
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Baby Mantis is so much fun to watch! I held my breath to see whether it could catch the fly! Great pics and video, Jenn! They are so beautiful!
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I did too, Noriko! That would’ve been the coolest thing. We haven’t witnessed him catch anything yet, but there are a lot of bugs on the flowers. I think it’s in a good a spot. Thanks for checking out FF! 💜
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Hey…I think I might have a moss rose growing in a pot in my house!! I bought it when it was tiny at our local BJ’s, but didn’t know what it was. It was so little and cute so I bought it. 🤷🏽♀️ I had no idea it might produce flowers!! I hope that’s what I have.
Thanks so much for sharing the lovely pictures and video, Mischenko. ☺️
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It could be! They’re in the succulent family, and I’ve seen them sold in pots. I hope that’s what you have too, Laurie. Rosemary resembles this plant too, but the moss rose have those thick succulent-like leaves. You’ll have to let me know. Thank you! ❤️
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I’ll keep you posted. 😃
The leaves are almost rubbery. I do think it’s a succulent. It’s a very interesting plant whatever it is. I’m going to look up Rosemary.
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There’s a phone app called Picture This that will tell you what it is just by a picture. You can probably get a free trial of it. It’s definitely worth it! ❤️
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I think I have that app. 🤔 I’ll do that. Thank you!! 🤗
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