Turk's Cap

Malvaviscus arboreus

Hills guide pick

Turk's Cap is a shrub from the Village of the Hills planting guide that grows 2–6 ft tall and 3–5 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low water, and handles clay soil. Blooms red in summer and fall. Good for birds, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths and small mammals.

Will it grow in your yard?

Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Turk's Cap against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.

From our guide

Village of the Hills

Sprawling perennial with hibiscus-like red flowers that never fully open, followed by edible red fruit. Dies to the ground after a hard freeze and returns.

Why it works here

The workhorse for dry shade under live oaks, where almost nothing else blooms. Hummingbirds and butterflies work it constantly.

Watch out

Spreads by underground runners and will colonize a bed. Cut back hard in winter to keep it contained.

The facts

6 sources

Type: Shrub
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Low
Height: 2–6 ft
Spread: 3–5 ft
Bloom: Summer, Fall · red
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes clay · recorded on clay, dry, limestone, moist, sand, well drained
Deer: Low — deer eat it; cage or plant where they cannot reach. Regularly browsed; protect when young
Wildlife: Supports birds, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths and small mammals

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesSan Antonio Prairie

5,461 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.