Also called winecup, this pretty native plant thrives in sunny spots.
Purple poppy mallow (Callirhoespp.)
is a nativeperennial plant with a long bloom period.
Credit:Peter Krumhardt
The flowers open each day and close at night.
A host plant provides habitat and food for insects.
Where to Plant Purple Poppy Mallow
Plant purple poppy mallow inUSDA Hardiness Zones 4-9.
Credit:Scott Little
Use it in sunnyrock gardens, trailing over a wall, garden beds, and native habitat gardens.
Shorter varieties are excellent groundcovers.
Use rocks or small boulders around the plants similar to their natural environment.
Credit:Bob Stefko
It can take up to six months for the plants to germinate.
Sow the seed where you want the plants; they don’t transplant well because of their long taproots.
In extremely hot areas, a little afternoon shade benefits the plant.
Credit: Matthew Benson
Soil and Water
Place purple poppy mallow plants 2-3 feet apart inwell-drained garden soilwith medium moisture.
The preferred pH range is mildly acidica pH of 6.0 to 6.5 is ideal.
Provide supplemental water for the first year to help the plant get established.
Credit: Elsa Bakalar
Watering after the first year is unnecessary.
Temperature and Humidity
The best summer temperature range for this warmth-loving plant is 50F to 80F.
Fertilizer
Fertilization is not necessary.
Purple poppy mallow tolerates poor, infertile soil.
Cut back the stems by half when they become rangy (long without many leaves).
Pests and Problems
Purple poppy mallow has few pest problems.
Root rot may occur in poorly drained soils; this plant likes dry soil.Slugs may visit the plants.
Protect young plants fromhungry rabbitswith a fence or repellent.
Remove the ripe seed heads and put them in a paper bag.
Shake the bag to separate the seed from the chaff.
Store the seeds in a cool, dry place.
Place the seeds in a plastic bag with moist, sterile soilless mix.
Put the sealed bag in the refrigerator for two to three months.
Then, plant them 1/8 inch deep in small pots filled with well-draining potting soil.
Place the pots in a warm location, and keep the planting medium moist but not wet.
Germination may take months.
When the seedlings reach 4 inches tall, they can be transplanted into the garden or a container.
Cuttings:
Take stem cuttingsfrom an established purple poppy mallow plant.
Remove any foliage from the bottom half of each cutting and dip it in rooting hormone.
Insert each cutting into a small pot filled with sand or a sterile potting mix.
Excellent drainage is essential.
Place the pots in a warm, brightly lit location.
When new growth appears, the cutting has rooted.
When the root system is robust, transplant the plants to a garden bed or container.
The branches of this 6-inch tall groundcover spread to 3 feet.
Its petals are fringed along the outer edge, and its leaves are finely divided.
It is native to a small area of the lower Midwest and eastern Great Plains.
It has white, rose, or lavender flowers surrounded by leaves with narrow lobes.
The variety’Logan Calhoun' has pure white flowers on 12 to 20-inch plants.
It grows 18 to 30 inches tall and is upright.
Its leaves turn gold or orange in fall and copper-brown in winter.
Flower panicles appear in late summer.
This easy-to-care-for ornamental grass attracts pollinators and birds.
Plants in theAsclepiasgenus provide food for the larvae (caterpillars) of the monarch butterfly.
This small to medium-sized prairie plant works well in perennial gardens.
It blooms with pink flowers on 2-foot-tall stems.
The bloom duration varies from four to eight weeks, depending on the variety.
