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Malvaceae FAMILY

Callirhoe alcaeoides

Callirhoe alcaeoides

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

Callirhoe alcaeoides is hardy to about -15°c[1]. Prefers a light rich sandy loam and a sunny position[2, 3]. Easily grown in a dry to medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun[4]. Avoid wet or poorly drained soils[4]. Established plants are drought tolerant[4]. Plants develop a long taproot and resent root disturbance - they should be planted into their final positions as soon as possible[3]. The plants are easy to grow from seed and may self-seed in the garden in optimum growing conditions[4]. Slugs are strongly attracted to this plant and can destroy even established plants by eating out all the young shoots in spring[PFAF].

Propagation

Seed - sow outdoors or in a cold frame. Plants resent root disturbance so the seed is best sown in situ in mid spring[3], though the slugs will have a field day if you do not protect the plants[PFAF]. If seed is in short supply then sow it in pots in a cold frame, putting a few seeds in each pot, and plant the pots out in early summer once the plants have put on at least 15cm of growth. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 6 months at 15°c[3]. Cuttings of young basal shoots in a frame in sand[2, 1]. Harvest the shoots when they are about 10cm long with plenty of underground stem. Pot them up into individual pots and keep them in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the summer. Division[1]. With care since the plant resents root disturbance. We have found that it is best not to disturb this plant and so do not try to divide it, relying instead on taking basal cuttings since these do not disturb the main clump[PFAF]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Callirhoe+alcaeoides>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  3. [3]Growing from Seed. Volume 3. — Bird. R. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1989 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.
  4. [4]KemperCentreForHomeGardeningPlantFinder — Missouri Botanical Garden · http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/ ↩︎Basic cultivation details, plant uses, habitat etc for several thousand species of plants, mainly from the temperate zone.
  5. [5]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  6. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎