Perennial Turk’s cap brightens up both sunny and shady landscapes.

Plants native to the South that were tough, pretty and easy to propagate quickly became a part of our ancestors’ landscaping palette. One such example is the Turk’s cap. In an 1891 copy of a Pearfield Nurseries catalog from Frelsburg, Texas, they list it by its botanical name and state “Malvaviscus drummondii — A native of Texas, producing during summer a profusion of scarlet flowers. 40 cents each.” It doesn’t just produce a profusion of small turban-like flowers, but a multitude of hummingbirds, sulfur butterflies and small red-orange fruit as well. I’ve always considered the miniature tomato-looking fruit palatable. A 1933 Otto M. Locke Nursery catalog from New Braunfels advertises “Malvaviscus drummondii. This has large broad leaves…and produces a small fruit which some people call Mexican Apples. The fruit is sweet and edible. 10c each, $1.00 per dozen.” Locke’s Nursery once laid claim to the oldest nursery in Texas, having started in 1856. Unfortunately when the last Mr. Locke died in 1994, the nursery died with him. It was famous for its animal menagerie, including a prairie dog “town,” and for supplying the U.S. with most of its tuberose bulbs. I had the fortunate experience of getting to meet Mr. Otto Locke, Jr. and his wife Etelka, when I was the Bexar County horticulturist in nearby San Antonio. On one visit he told me a man tried to buy the property from him for one million dollars, but he wouldn’t sell it to him because the buyer planned to do away with the nursery. Mr. Locke’s dad and granddad had owned and operated that nursery and he couldn’t bear the thought of it not being there. Unfortunately the property was immediately adjacent to the interstate in a rapidly growing area. Luckily Turk’s cap still grows up and down the nearby Comal and Guadalupe rivers.

My first experience with Turk’s cap was around the back steps of my friend Kevin Adams’ house in Longview. His family rented the home from Autry and Marie Daly next door. I would sit on the back steps waiting for him, watching the hummingbirds visit the flowers as I nibbled on the small, sweet fruit. At the time I feared Mrs. Daly, as I was told she was a mean old witch. It turned out just the opposite, and she later became the sweetest friend on earth. She loved flowers (and me!) and Turk’s cap was just one of her many treasures. People are like plants. They are mostly all good. You just have to know them and appreciate what’s good about them.

In addition to the typical red, Turk’s cap is also more rarely available in white that I introduced as ‘White Lightning,’ a coral-pink I introduced as ‘Pam Puryear,’ and a larger-growing, larger-flowered hybrid I introduced as ‘Big Momma.’ Turks’ cap is designated a Texas Superstar by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. For more information on Texas Superstars visit texassuperstar.com.

Greg Grant is the Smith County horticulturist for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. He is author of Texas Fruit and Vegetable Gardening, Heirloom Gardening in the South, and The Rose Rustlers. You can read his “Greg’s Ramblings” blog at arborgate.com, read his “In Greg’s Garden” in each issue of Texas Gardener magazine (texasgardener.com), and follow him on Facebook at “Greg Grant Gardens.” More science-based lawn and gardening information from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service can be found at aggieturf.tamu.edu and aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu.