Hi Ronda don't cut them back they need to reseed. Carnations are biennials.

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tk,
According to Direct Gardening, where I ordered the Carnations from, they bloom every year?

See below? From there website:

Carnation, Hardy Mixed
Item # 6595 Dianthus

Bloom at intervals all summer and into fall!

Fill your yard and garden with magnificent masses of exciting and colorful winter-hardy carnations. Outstanding in the garden, they make beautiful and gragrant cut flower bouquets. They have always been a favorite of florists, but they'll look even lovelier growing exactly where you can see them every day for months on end. You can depend on their returning beauty and fragrance in larger clumps every year. We send mixed colors of our choice that may include red, pink, yellow or white.

Thanks, Ronda

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Ronda

tk,

Thank You! I feel sooo much better now. Thank you for the compliment. It means a lot to me, because I have so much trouble with flowers.

Thanks Again

Ronda

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Ronda

This is going to be a dumb question, but where are the carnations in the picture? All I see are Portulaca - Moss Roses.

PG

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PG

My eyes aren't that good I would need a close up of one of the plants.

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Hi
Here are the close up pictures of the Hardy carnations. Or at least that is what I thought I planted. What do you think? Are they Moss Roses?

Thanks Again!!!!!

Ronda




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Ronda

Ah, well, the old eyes aren't going yet, I guess, but last night I was sure straining to see the carnations!

Moss Roses will reseed with abandon...can I give you some ideas & information? Right now, the color placement is so pretty -- you can actually see the big mounds of color of each individual plant. Next year, you'll have more plants, but they won't be as big, so instead of being a 12" mound of yellow next to a 12" mound of coral, they will likely be 8" mounds...so more polka dotted in a way.

You can save the seed -- and Portulaca has got very interesting seed pods. Look right next to an open flower and you might see a pointy thing that could either be a 2nd bud, or a seed pod from the 1st flower on that little stem. The seed pods usually have dead petals on them. Wipe away the brown stuff (which is dead petals) and you'll see a little shiny round knob with a little x-shaped indentation, and that's the seed pod. If it's green or red with a little bit of a point, it's a pod that will bloom. With your thumb, try to dislodge the rounded knob. What could happen is that you will find the knob is HINGED. It literally hinges open like a Faberge egg and seeds are both in the lid and the egg. The ripe seeds are dark brown or black and very small. If you dislodge one that has lighter seeds, just dry it and it will ripen on a paper plate or a cereal bowl. You might also dislodge the whole thing and get the seeds out that way, but the hinge is cool. I think the Latin name, Portulaca, has something to do with that hinge, which I believe is faily rare in the world of seed capsules.

Some cool things to do with moss roses: If you want to get creative, a the end of the year, when the moss roses get ratty looking or a frost comes, you can pull the plants or cut them off BY COLOR. For example, pull all the pale pink ones and lay them on top of the ground around some pale pink Heritage (or other) pink roses for about 2 weeks. Likewise, pull the red ones and put them somewhere you'd like red flowers next year, the orange ones might look good with Sunset snapdragons...you get the idea. It doesn't look too great to have the moss roses laying on the ground for two weeks, but the leaves are falling from the trees and there is a lot of debris on the ground anyway, so maybe you can get away with it. In any case, Moss Roses (and Impatiens if you're interested) will go ahead and ripen their seed, even if the plant is out of the ground. You will literally get 1000s of seeds that you wouldn't have if you threw them in the trash or compost as soon as you pulled them. I see a little room to the left and a lot of room to the right where you could lay the plants, but maybe you'd like to get some carnations for there.

As far along as your flowers are right now, there is plenty of seed in that bed already for them to come back next spring, and you could certainly harvest more for yourself or trade.

Right now I am trying to figure out how to corral the seeds to trade. Pulling plants and putting them in paper bags is only working so-so. The seeds are little and are getting caught in the folds and cracks at the bottom of the bags. I have enough of the moss roses growing here, I could probably use a pillow case, but I imagine all of the seeds getting caught in the seams....or worse, th plants rotting! Right now I am trying to find bags without the square bottom -- bags like you'd get if you bought a pair of gloves from a dept store. I think there are fewer seams in them.

I have rambled on long enough -- try to find the hinge and if you have kids, show it to them, too!

Oh, one more thing -- if there is a color you don't like, a color that doesn't go with the rest, or a color you think there is too much of, you can pull that color and throw it away leaving a better mix to reseed.

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PG

Ronda, you've been given some great advice on the care of your annual Portulaca "Moss Rose" and I would like to add the pictures are beautiful.

Now a word of advice...before you order anything else online, first check out the source at Garden Watchdog to see if they are a good company to do business with. That link goes directly to the info on Direct Gardening, a company that should have a big, red warning banner on their homepage that says BUYER BEWARE!!!

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Rosie z7a

Rosie,
Thank You! I have learned my leason. Great site!

Ronda

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Ronda

I agree with Portulaca.....

Those arent carnations.. I have some and they dont look like that ..

Do you have any seeds off the Portulaca to trade/

Thanks ,
dodge

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''''Those who live in the Lord Never See Each Other For The Last Time!''''

Rhonda,

Just be calm.. YOur ok..Well all started here, same as you ..(Knew nothing)
First thing you do to exchange private messages to me, do you see the tiny envelope on your header bar here........(where the date is posted)
You click on that an you can send me a private message)
YOu can try it now if you want to see if it works, Just say your testing.

Now to collect seeds.......
Behind every blossom ......when it drops off , seeds will form....In those it is like a cone.
They must turn brown......To be ready to use the seed....
All seeds are either brown or black.......
Show me photos of when they seem brown and I will try to guide you......
Relax.....We all started same as you.

dodge

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''''Those who live in the Lord Never See Each Other For The Last Time!''''

Ronda,

You're welcome. I don't grow a great variety, but what I have, I have a LOT of TK answered all your questions, and I don't really have anything much to add except some iscellaneous observations. If you collect seeds while you're talking on a portable phone it goes a lot faster. And for every pod you "mess up" you'll just have that many more seeds in your bed for next year, so you really can't mess this up. I think there are between 50-75 seeds in each pod --ya don't need many pods to make a full package the size Burpee would sell. (And didja notice you already have a taker for your collected seed?, so you can trade that seed for something else that will bloom all summer...marigolds, nasturtiums and Four O'Clocks are all easy.)

Good luck, but really, it's more important to have fun!

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PG

Oh, dang! -- at the last minute I took that paragraph out, thinking other people might not find it as funny as I did. I didn't realize I had hit 'send' a full 15 minutes EARLIER with the whole post, with that paragraph included.

Oh well, It *is* funny -- I always think of painted plywood yard signs that look like a lady bending over, and in fact that's what gave me the idea to position myself with my butt toward the house....

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PG