Winecups
Callirhoe involucrata · Malvaceae
Trailing stems studded with magenta, cup-shaped flowers with white centres from late spring through summer. It grows from a deep taproot and shrugs off drought.
- Size
- 8 in tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late May to late August
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around winecups
The planner designed this bed around winecups when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why winecups stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Winecups × 3, purple
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 5, pink
- 3 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 4 Purple milkweed × 5, purple
- 5 Dwarf English boxwood × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Fountain grass 'Burgundy Bunny' × 3, tan
- 7 Hyacinth × 12, blue
- 8 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
Why this plant
- Part of the matrix. The low fabric of grasses and groundcovers that the taller plants come up through.
- The only open bowls. The others are daisies, flat plates, plumes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 8 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 52% of the edge.
- 3 plants in one run. An unbroken run of one kind gives the edge a clean line.
Why now
- In flower for 13 weeks. From late May to late August.
- Fills a gap. For one of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 41% of the planted ground. For contrast, the bold leaves of purple milkweed sit beside the fine leaves of dwarf English boxwood. The most in flower at one time is 4 kinds, from early June.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 7 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where winecups goes in a border
At 8 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
The stems wander across the ground and through neighbours without smothering them, so it works as a weaver at ground level. Its saturated magenta needs silver or blue beside it, not orange.
- Trailing over walls and slopes
- Hot, dry front edges
- Weaving between upright plants
What to plant with winecups
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Little bluestem: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (3 ft) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Blue fescue: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Russian sage: in flower together for seven weeks, from mid July; spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (4 ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about winecups
Does winecups need sun or shade?
Winecups grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does winecups grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does winecups flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to late August. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Early June to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late May to late August |
| Zone 6 | Late May to late August |
| Zone 7 | Mid May to mid August |
| Zone 8 | Early May to mid August |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should winecups be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 8 in (20 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many winecups plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is winecups poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat winecups?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after winecups?
Winecups is over by late August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': from mid August to mid October, 24 in tall.
- Meadow saffron: from mid September to mid October, 6 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does winecups look like in winter?
Winecups dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
Is winecups good for bees and butterflies?
Winecups is visited by pollinators.
It is native to the United States.
In these guides
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 8 in (20 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late May to late August; open bowls; purple
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Malvaceae
- Comes from
- Central U.S.A. and Mexico
- Attracts
- Pollinators
- Stands up to
- Drought
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.