Remaining silent about the destruction of nature is an endorsement of that destruction.

I write a monthly column, that focuses on a different native plant, for a organic gardening magazine, that I thought I would share with all of you. 

There are many plants that easily make the transition from Prairie plant to Native Texas bedding plant.  One of my “perennial” favorites is a member of the Mallow family.  It is wide-spread through-out Texas and much of the Great Plains and provides the modern viewer with true beauty.  Earlier peoples not only enjoyed this wildflower’s form, but also its function.  For it is a source of highly nutritional food source for man, as well as, countless beneficial insects and higher life forms.  It was also used by indigenous peoples as a medicinal plant.  Called pezhuta nantiazilia   or “smoke treatment medicine” by the Lakota people.

 Now days most of us don’t speak much Lakota, so we use the much simpler name of Winecup.  The botanists name for this plant, Callirhoe involucrata, might be even harder to pronounce than the Lakota name. 

As the common name implies this low trailing plant is covered with deep dark purplish red or wine colored cup shaped blooms.  It will grow in most soil types in either the sun or shade and can be found in the wild though-out most of Texas.  Winecups usually grow from one foot to eighteen inches tall and from twenty-four to thirty-six inches wide.  This makes them great to use as a perennial border plants in the flower bed or as an interesting and beautiful hanging basket.  In the wild Winecups generally bloom from April through the end of June or early July, depending on how quickly our summer becomes hot and dry.  In the home landscape the bloom time can be greatly extended by dead-heading the old blooms and giving the plants occasional supplemental watering.

Winecups are easily transplanted from starter pots found at local nurseries or grown at home from seed.  Or for large areas and flower beds the seed can be planted directly in the soil.  The best times for sowing Winecups seeds is either the late summer to early fall or in the spring time .

These drought hardy plants can tolerate both extreme heat and bitter cold.  They rarely have problems with insects or disease and add lasting beauty to your landscape.