I have masses of a particular cultivar of Moss Rose(Portulaca grandiflora). If I am not mistaken, I see Portulaca in the mosaic picture you mention (http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_570xN.239017513.jpg). The kind I have is unusual, or seems so to me, because the blooms are only maybe 1/2", and not the 1"-2" blooms I see in pictures of other cultivars on the Internet. The color of the blooms is a sort of bright yellow-green, which reminds me very much of blooming Mustard in my vegetable garden. Anyway, what I have started out in a tiny pot on my mother's front porch some 25 years ago. Somehow the plastic pot was moved to the ground, and the pot, deteriorated by the sun, cracked and started to fall apart. After that, the little roses started to slowly spread. I use it as a ground cover now under some of my individual, specimen trees, like my Paulownia Royal Empress. I also have it in pots here and there around the garden, and it has begun to spread out into the loose gravel in my driveway! Propigating this cultivar of Portulaca is so easy! It's very shallow rooted, and comes up with just a slight tug. You can almost dislodge a few sprigs by breathing on it a little too hard...which is one reason it spreads so easy! All it has to do is touch the ground, and it's off again! Whenever I want a new start of it, I'll pull a few sprigs out here and there, and just throw a little soil on top of it in it's new location. In just a couple weeks it's sending up new shoots, and in a month it's filled out, and looking very pretty again. And when it spreads out a little too much, as in the case of my driveway, a few swipes of the lawn rake is all it takes to pull it back into submission. Another thing that is unusual about these little roses, they don't die out like the annuals they are supposed to be. All descriptions I've read on the Internet say the Moss Rose is supposed to be an annual, that dies out in winter, and readily comes back from seed the following spring. But mine doesn't die completely, the new growth dies back, and I'm left with a solid matt of old growth that is a darker green. It lasts all winter, until the spring, and in February/March it's up and going again with the Daffodils. I live in zone 7b, and it rarely gets much colder than the upper teens, but we did have some snow twice this last year, and it didn't make any difference to the little roses. Please let me know if you think this will meet your needs, and good luck with your project!

I've poked around many, many a day on the forums here, and finally made an account today. I would love to get an herb garden started this year. My interests are in tea and medicinal herbs, succulents and cacti, and trees. However, more than anything I enjoy surprises- so add "random/grab bag/any" to the list, too! I prefer indoor planting / potted planting, if this makes a difference. (But, I'm up for anything!) Sad story time: When I was about 11, I had to move across the country about 2 months after I had 3 tiny maple trees start growing in a long trough-like pencil holder in my windowsill. My parents said I couldn't take them with us, even though I said I would hold them in my lap the entire way there (in the car!) I loved my "tiny trees". I planted them in my favorite hiding spot, but when I moved back to the area, construction had destroyed where I planted them. Ever since then, I've wanted to grow more trees but just can't seem to get them going... :( But, that hasn't stopped me from trying!! Therefore, I am also looking for tips, advice, and suggestions on how to plant and maintain any seeds or plants provided me. Thank you so much for considering me!! This post was edited by Cirrus on Mon, Apr 21, 14 at 22:56

Swept along in a rush of who knows what but wanted to check in. Just got back from a bonzai overnight trip up north to accompany Mitch while he photographed the preview of The Late Show on Thurs evening (twilight or "magic" hour for photography, doncha know), same garden show Kathy attends on Sat. The speaker lineup sounded great, esp. mosaic artist Jeffrey Bale, but had to miss it. West Coast idyll plans sounds great, and maybe I can finally get to one, ya think? I'm so very sorry about your friend, Chelone. Cause for sadness indeed to lose a friend in such a way. And a dollop of extra beatings for the Wrecking Crew for vexing you so. Saw The September Issue, inside look at Vogue/Anna Wintour, and enjoyed it very much. Those who enjoy photography, fabrics and design might find it interesting. Hurray to Brenda & V for meeting up and then telling us all about it, with the requisite photos (and haikus...) PM, what ghastly news. Best wishes to you and your family in such stressful times. Michelle -- your garden knocks me out, but you know that. Sounds like your Mom has all the support she'll need for the upcoming surgery, thank goodness, and from your brief description of her I bet she's the kind of patient that roars back from joint replacement surgeries. I know my mom was such a patient and has done fabulously well with two such surgeries. I'm still missing lots to comment on with this scattershot approach. I did so enjoy the French cat who repeatedly dunked his head under the faucet, and so did Duncan -- I think 'bug may have posted that. Great shot of Mary's girls lined up on the henhouse, with the ringer in the middle. Two of my neighbors are in the special ed dept of the school district, so I know how exhausting that work can be. Honey, sorry your beautiful garden has to have its boundaries redrawn and replanted. What a nuisance. But seeing what you've created, I eagerly look forward to the new "after" photos. Deanne, the bird photos continue to astound, and I enjoyed the before and after photos of your container garden. What a surge of growth you get from those pots in August. Temps continue to cool here, which is a godsend. Ein's fur is growing in on his back where he chewed himself a mohawk when the high temps hit in August, the little dickens. I'm up to my ears in little cat food cans of seedlings that are now sprouting and will need repotting, and it looks like the fall-blooming salvias might give a good show this year. Have a great weekend.

Wow. Somebody asks about generalizations and gets a bloodied keyboard. The original poster made some general observations about her group. Wanted to know if this held up to what other people are are seeing. Somebody jumps up, takes the general observations as pigeon-holing, and takes it personally, even defending her/him self against something that was not mentioned until that point. Keep in mind that this is a forum that just about anybody can post on. If you think the subject is silly, accusatory or doesn't apply to you, then move on. To come back on and belabor the point is a bit much. Generalizations (and the "wondering" of the original poster might not even be that) are just that, general. It means not everybody adheres to all the generalizations equally. For somebody to stand and pointedly tell somebody else that they aren't like the "generalizations" is excessive. It is acting like somebody pointed a finger at you, like you are so affronted that somebody would call you ______ (fill in the blank). That feeling compels them to come back and explain in detail why they are different. Harsh, or egotistical, neither is pretty. If I were to come on here and make a generalization that all Agaves are succulents, somebody, somewhere in the world would come up with one growing in the swamp. Great, but maybe the generalization still holds. It also was said that the original poster's (o.p.) Cactus club was urban. Didn't read that from her. It also was implied that the o.p. said she was familiar with a Cactus club being a "lonely heart's club. Really? The the o.p.'s words were thrown back at her. First of all, Urban Northern Ohio were your words, Wantonamara. You have obviously never been there. To call it Urban Northern Ohio shows that you have decided that northern Ohio must all be urban. Mostly farms from Cleveland to Indiana. Go there sometimes, the farms are much more prosperous that anything you'll see west of Abilene. Generalizing here. It cuts lots of ways this generalization thing. I don't often post here, and I didn't for years because of the hard tone some people take. I was here when Spike Hernandez (his pseudonym) opened up shop in about 1996. I've seen that hard attitude drive very knowledgeable out, not that they were involved in the kerfuffle, but who wants to read somebody's attitude. I know I'll avoid opening some posts now (including this one ever again), and if 10 people do that it gets quiet around here. Drama is best left to live plays and old movies.