Callirhoe involucrata

You can usually determine how much a wildflower has been noticed through the years by the number of charming common names it has been given. In addition to Poppy Mallow, this native perennial is also called Wine Cup and Cowboy Rose. It grows from a huge turnip-like taproot where it sends out ground-hugging stems up to 4′ in all directions. Because we do not water our native beds, Poppy mallow goes dormant in the summer and we simply clip away the faded stems. This satiny rose-purple flowering native resprouts a rosette of leaves in the fall that remain through winter.