Happy Trails Mixture is a cheerful double-flowering portulaca that brings vibrant color to even the toughest garden spots. This open-pollinated cultivar grows in a compact mound just 5 to 9 inches tall, making it exceptionally easy to tuck into containers, garden beds, and hanging baskets across zones 2 through 11. With a 65 to 80 day season and minimal water needs, it thrives in lean, well-draining soil and rewards low-maintenance gardeners with prolific blooms throughout summer.
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Low
2-11
9in H x ?in W
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Moderate
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The double-petaled flowers in this mixture create a fuller, more ornamental look than typical single-flowered portulacas, giving the plants an almost rose-like delicacy despite their extreme toughness. At just 5 to 9 inches tall with a naturally compact habit, Happy Trails suits containers and window boxes as readily as ground cover in garden beds. This is a plant that asks almost nothing in return: minimal water, no fertilizer required, and the ability to bloom in poor, sandy soil where other flowers would struggle.
Happy Trails Mixture shines as an ornamental for small spaces and containers. Its compact growth makes it ideal for window boxes, hanging baskets, and the edges of garden beds where you want reliable, long-season color without maintenance. In landscape settings, it serves as a low, spreading ground cover in sunny spots, and it performs exceptionally well in containers where its minimal water needs are actually an advantage.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Sow seeds 4 to 6 weeks before your transplant date for smaller cell sizes (128 to 288-cell), or 6 to 8 weeks before for larger containers or seedling pots. Apply a thin layer of vermiculite to hold seeds in place, but do not cover them completely, as light is required for germination. Keep the soil surface moist and maintain an average temperature range of 65 to 76°F (18 to 24°C). Harden off seedlings before transplanting outside.
Transplant outdoors after all danger of frost has passed. Happy Trails is frost-tender and will not survive freezing temperatures. Space plants 8 inches apart in full sun and well-draining soil.
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