Thanks, Dawn! I like the idea of living mulches, but so far they have been less than successful. Last year I put oregano in potted peppers. This year those oregano plants are virtually pot bound. They were big pots, too. I am looking for a place in the yard where the oregano can go nuts. Also the lemon balm and spearmint... And creeping thyme. All those pics of it around stepping stones...first plant this year to get spider mites. They killed last year's plant, too.

I eat purslane on tacos. It adds a nice juicy scrumptious crunch.

Amy, You're welcome. Spider mites are all over my garden every year, and I understand that because they're all over every plant outside my garden as well. This year I was seeing them as early as April in fairly significant numbers. Even though we always have them, the beneficial insects apparently keep their numbers low enough that I rarely lose a plant to them. Now, often the tomato plants look like crap because of the spider mites, but they don't die and they keep producing. Usually my tomato plants keep producing until I get tired of tomatoes and pull the plants. I don't pull them all---I keep a few for fresh eating, but once my canning goals are accomplished, I don't see any reason to keep the tomato plants in the garden. I like pulling the spider mite-infested plants and asking the spider mites: "Whatcha gonna do now? You're losing your food source?" as I cackle like an evil witch.

I want to know why the spider mites that get into the gardens do so much damage but the ones that get on the bermuda grass and Johnson grass don't kill them? I could learn to like bermuda mites if they'd kill the grass.

Lemon balm should go crazy no matter where you plant it. I have it in both amended clay and barely-amended sand and it grows like mad and reseeds heavily. Oregano is happiest in containers for me. I think my clay doesn't drain well enough for it in wet years, and the same thing is true of rosemary.

I grow my mints in pots, and the do stay rootbound, and I just don't care. If I put a mint plant in the ground anywhere, I'll spend the next 5 years digging it out and hoping for a drought to come along and kill it. It spreads like wildfire, so I avoid the invasive issues by keeping it in big containers and hoping it doesn't put down roots deeply enough to grow through the containers' drain holes and root into the ground.

Dawn

I don't really belong in this forum but happened to see this discussion searching Portulaca. I think Portulacas make a fine ground cover! They stay short, shade the ground. I have P. grandiflora, umbraticola and amilis, but no matter how much I want it to, purslane (P. oleracea) just won't show up, and I haven't seen any for sale. Anything functional, gorgeous & edible is absolutely welcome in my yard.

There are so many anecdotes of people eating the other species (besides P. oleracea,) especially since P. umbraticola has been sold for about 20 yrs with incorrect labels that say P. oleracea cultivar, it would have become known by now if that wasn't also perfectly edible.

I managed to get both P. grandiflora & umbraticola by finding a 6-pack that happened to have both, though I would have bought 2 separate 6-packs if needed.

P. amilis (Paraguayan purslane.) There's a ton of this in our lawn, so I moved them to be enjoyed. They don't get to bloom much when mowed often. Starting to notice that the blooms get much bigger on plants left unmolested for a while. IDK if this plant is as far north as OK, so ignore my babbling if not & sorry.

P. umbraticola (ornamental purslane/the other moss roses.)

A spot with all 3, sure beats the grass I dug up there to make a "flower bed" but don't yet have any mulch to put down or more permanent plants to install. Portulacas love that kind of setting!

I have grown portulacas before and liked them, if memory serves, they do well in heat. My golden purslane grew from seed and has been self seeding since the first boom. I saw some in the grass today. My seeds came from Fedco, but there are other companies that sell it. Golden Purslane has larger leaves and a more upright habit than the others. Makes it easier to harvest and to get in your mouth.