With its flowers flowing down the face of a dry stone wall, the poppy mallow or Callirhoe is truly the garden counterpart of the Grecian water nymph whose name it bears.
Callirhoe, which means beautiful-flowing, was the daughter of Achelous, the mythological god of rivers, and the name of the plant, like the name of the goddess, is pronounced in four syllables with the accent on the second (ka-leer’-o-ee).
From June through August, it blossoms continuously, its 2” inch flower cups on upturned stems a rose-wine color unique among flowers.
But the poppy mallow has other virtues and may be used in many ways in the garden landscape, earning its place on the list of relatively unfamiliar plants to be recommended to serious gardeners.
Where To Find Poppy Mallow
A perennial of great hardiness, it is found in patches and colonies on the plains and prairies of the Central States from North Dakota south into Texas. It may occasionally be found as an escape from cultivation in the East.
Under its deep-growing, thickened taproot, it is well adapted to its arid native home and, in cultivation, will grow and blossom remarkably in the driest, most sunny garden location.
Set a plant in sandy, neutral to slightly acid soil, and by August, its slender vinelike stems, issuing from a crown, will fall with the weight of leaves and flowers to form a circular 6” inch-deep carpet 4’ feet across.
Because poppy mallow needs a great deal of space, it is rarely suitable for the perennial border unless the border is at the top of a wall and the plants can flow down over the face of the wall, giving an effect similar to that obtained by crevice planting.
Summer-Long Color In Rock Garden
The rock garden fills a need for summer-long color, coming into flower after the floral blaze of early alpines diminishes in June.
British gardeners, who have long recognized the merit of this plant, recommend using it near the top of the rock garden, situated so its lengthening stems will cascade over a large rock.
When space is available, a dense carpet of color is attained by setting three or more plants about 12” inches apart so that the stems will interlace. Similar planting is advisable for sunny locations in front of shrubs or evergreens.
Sowing Seeds
Seed can be obtained from American and English firms specializing in perennials and rock garden subjects.
Sown outdoors in late fall or early spring, it will produce plants that can be expected to flower in late July. Flowering stems will, of course, be limited during the first year.
While it is desirable to sow seed in the garden where the plants are to flower, for it eliminates many transplanting hazards, there is less likelihood of seedlings getting lost or accidentally weeded out if sown in an outdoor seed bed.
Seedlings transplanted to permanent locations in the fall should be cut back, their roots well watered in, and their tops shaded for a few days. This is not necessary for seedlings transplanted in spring before advanced growth. Take care in lifting seedlings not to cut off the little taproots.
First Planted Seedlings
Our first seedlings were planted in soil crevices of drywall five years ago in spring. Just as new growth was beginning, we thrust the taproots into horizontal holes made in the soil between the rocks with a pointed stick and firmed soil around them up to the crown.
The roots must have grown downward, for the plants continuously flowered the first summer and thrived through four Maine winters without the benefit of any winter cover except snow.
Where winters are cold and open (without snow), a mulch of straw or evergreen boughs may be advisable to prevent the upheaval of the roots by frost. Roots found jutting out of the soil in spring are pushed back.
How To Propagate Poppy Mallows
Poppy mallows may also be propagated by making root divisions of old plants in spring or fall or by taking 2” inch cuttings from basal stems in late summer and inserting them in moist sand.
Most gardeners rely on seeds to multiply their collection, however. In late summer, neat rings of flat, kidney-shaped seeds are found on the stems that produce the earliest flowers.
Seed-grown plants do not differ greatly from their parents, but a new plant may occasionally appear with flowers of a richer hue than the parent.
Callirhoe’s Color
I have said the color of this Callirhoe is rose-wine. But it is an unusual color, and not all writers and seed merchants see it the same way. It has been described as cherry-red, red-wine, wine-crimson, rosy-purple, and purple.
One writer insists that the color is nearer to a true magenta than any other garden flower. However you describe it, it can be seen from a great distance, even on a cloudy day, and this aspect sets it apart from most other plants.
As the common name suggests, the flowers are similar to poppies —single-flowered ones—but other characteristics place the saltire in the mallow family.
Close beneath the calyx of Callirhoe involucrata is a circle of narrow bracts, a characteristic that distinguishes this species from the several others found in the genus.
Other popular names known by the plant are low poppy mallow, purple poppy mallow, buffalo rose, and wine cup. Professor William Chase Stevens, in his hook, Kansas Wild Flowers, says the Indians called it “medicine” and “smoke-treatment medicine.” The medicine, a broth made from boiling the roots in water, was used to treat intestinal pains.
The smoke-treatment medicine was obtained by burning dried roots. Inhaling the smoke was said to relieve head colds and bronchial afflictions.
I am sure modern gardeners will grow poppy mallow, not for its dubious medicinal qualities but because it is such a splendid subject for rock gardens, wild gardens, and wall plantings.
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