Native Plants

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Tuesday - June 03, 2008

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Transplants, Shade Tolerant, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Turks cap not blooming in Austin
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Why is my Turks Cap not blooming? It gets about an hour of sun in the morning, then shade for the rest of the day. It gets watered with the sprinkler system that waters our lawn.

ANSWER:

Turk's Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii (wax mallow), is classified as a sun to part shade plant. We consider sun as 6 or more hours a day of sun, and part shade as 2 to 6 hours a day. Less than 2 hours a day is considered shade, so that is probably the main reason your plants are not blooming. Also, although they bloom from May to November, they usually produce in heavy profusion during hot weather at the end of Summer and early Fall.

Why don't you wait and see if they begin to bloom more later in the summer? Then, if they still are not satisfactory, wait until it cools off, trim the plants back and transplant them to a sunnier place. Your hummingbirds will thank you.