Native Plants

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Saturday - November 14, 2009

From: Seguin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Propagation
Title: Few seeds from turkscap in Seguin, TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I have several Turk's cap plants but most do not produce seed. Any ideas? They have been in place 5 plus years.

ANSWER:

From our Native Plant Database page on Malvaviscus arboreus (wax mallow):

"Propagation Material: Seeds
Description: Grows readily from seed, but they are hard to gather because they fall and get eaten so quickly. Also look under established plants in spring for seedlings to dig up."

Possibly the birds and squirrels are just quicker than you are, and are harvesting the seeds before you find them. From personal experience, we always found cutting the plants back in late Fall, and then selecting from new plants that came up in the Spring for transplanting easier than trying to find the seed and grow in greenhouse conditions over the Winter.

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