Native Plants
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Smarty Plants Question Topics
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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| Plantings of Castilleja in Texas April 04, 2012 I am a graduate student interested in studying different species of paintbrush (Castilleja) in Texas. I understand that the Texas Dept of Transportation has been seeding wildflowers along Texas highwa... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Specifications for a property in Corning CA March 29, 2012 Drought resistant, deer resistant, low growing (ground cover), and shade tolerant request: I am looking for a variety of species that not only fit the above preferences, but also a few other things. ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Tall perennials for a sunny North Carolina border March 26, 2012 I need border plants for in front of a picket fence along front sidewalk. Space is only approx 1'6" wide and widening is not an option. So far I have daylilies, cannas, Mexican petunias, daisies, i... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Flowers for October wedding in Rockport TX March 26, 2012 Hello Mr. Smarty Plants! I live in Rockport and am getting married in October. What can I plant that will be blooming then to have fresh cut flowers for the wedding? Also, when should I plant? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Decline ot Heartleaf rosemallow from Austin March 26, 2012 My tulipan del monte -a new small plant from the wildflower center--did great all winter and was forming a new flower bud, just died in a matter of a few days. It looks like it "dried up", no visib... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Planting of Habiturf from Smithville TX March 25, 2012 Are Habiturf and Thunderturf the same? and, how late in the year can I plant Habiturf? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Flowers for an August wedding in Driftwood TX March 25, 2012 For an August 4th wedding in Driftwood, Texas we want fragrant flowers and wildflowers that we can grow in our garden. We have four raised beds (12 ft. x 6 ft.) in a fenced area in which we've grown ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Trees safe near walls from Rio Grande City March 24, 2012 What trees can be planted near the house that the roots won't break my walls? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Mountain laurel planting over Frederickburg limestone March 22, 2012 We have rocky limestone shelves on our property. We want to plant a mountain laurel. Are the roots strong enough to break through the limestone or should we try to find another location? The limestone... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Best way to plant sedges on a slope in Fairfax, VA. March 20, 2012 Best way to plant sedges on a slope. WE are in the LONG process of trying to convert our backyard to a native wildlife friendly habitat. The slope is about 30 degress and it's a large space 1/2 acr... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Prospects for newly-seeded Habiturf lawn from Round Rock TX March 17, 2012 Re: Habiturf installation Can you provide feedback about how my newly seeded Habiturf lawn should look at various stages? I think I prepped the lawn properly, but I may have planted too early (... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Planting Habiturf in Houston, TX> March 08, 2012 First, I want to say thank you for such an informative site. You say that the Buffalograsses tend to do well in drier and well drained soil. My house has a lawn that drops about 10 inches in about... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| low-growing evergreen shrubs for thin soil March 05, 2012 Thanks to the winter freeze, we'll be starting fresh with the plants in the bed along the front of our house. The bed is about 13' long and faces the west, so it gets afternoon/ evening sun but no ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| pruning crape myrtle (ugh, non-native) March 05, 2012 We would like to plant a Dynamite Crape myrtle in front of our front window. They grow 20' to 30'. Can I trim it each year to about 15' to 20'? Should we plant it approximately 5 feet from the ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| killing grass on 1 acre before planting Habiturf March 04, 2012 I have an acre of full sun lawn on a slight slope in Dallas - would the habiturf be appropriate & if so, how do I go about killing off the existing weeds/crab grass before installing? Removing 3 in o... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| High water table in Glewood Springs CO March 03, 2012 We are considering the purchase of a home in Glenwood Springs, CO (elev. Approximately 5,000 ft) and find it strange that while neighboring properties in the subdivision have beautiful landscaping wit... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Do I need to cover my Habiturf planting with straw? March 02, 2012 I'm preparing to seed the Habiturf in my front yard in a couple of weeks. My dad has suggested I spread some straw to help protect the seeds. Your thoughts? Thanks!!! View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Planting wildflowers in spring for spring bloom March 02, 2012 I was wondering if it is possible to plant wildflowers around this time of year, and expect them to bloom in the spring still? I have heard that many wildflowers germinate in the fall. Are there c... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Need plants to control erosion on a hillside in Nashville, TN. February 28, 2012 Recently, a rogue contractor scraped all the sod off of my Tennessee hillside. Now the clay soil is exposed and washing away quickly. The hill slope is approximately 30 degrees. In the spring I'd ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| How do I plant seeds harvested from my flower bed? February 28, 2012 In early Spring of 2011 I planted a new raised bed 75'x4' in size, with wildflower seeds obtained from a commercial nursery in Corpus Christi. I was taken back by their cost relative to the volume o... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plantings for beneath a red oak in Lubbock TX February 23, 2012 What would you recommend to plant in a two tiered raised bed facing west, totally blocked from the east, thus receiving only the afternoon sun? A 21 year old red oak sits in the middle of the upper ra... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Best time to plant Habiturf in Austin February 20, 2012 When is the best time to plant Habiturf seeds? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Spot for communion and tree planting on Long Island February 20, 2012 I'm planning to combine my son's communion and a tree planting memorial for his uncle/godfather that passed on Valentine's Day. I'm looking for a venue on Long Island that can combine both on May ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Need perennials for front beds in south-facing house ib San Angelo, TX. February 12, 2012 What perennials will work in my front beds of southern facing house in West Texas? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Yucca filamentosa suffering from damp feet in Houston February 09, 2012 Last year, I planted three enormous and gorgeous Yucca Filamentosa in my backyard. Two are thriving but the third started turning yellow then brown from the bottom up after a few weeks of rains. S... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Reseeding a dead lawn in Wimberley TX February 07, 2012 Our new house had a sodded lawn that now appears dead. There remains a layer of sandy soil as a part of the sodding process. Is there a way to reseed these existing slabs of sod and what process wo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Planting time for non-natives in Irving TX February 07, 2012 Have dwarf nandinas and two lorapetalums that I want to transplant. Can I do it now February 6th 2012? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Can Habiturf be planted by hydroseeding from Austin? February 04, 2012 We are thinking about seeding our lawn with HABITURF. Could you provide any input on whether HABITURF can be planted by hydroseeding? Thanks! View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Best wildflowers for Lamar County TX February 02, 2012 What are the best wildflowers for northeast Tx? We live right below the Red River just north of Paris. Can they only be planted by seed in the fall? Thank you. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Trees to replace some non-native invasives in Deltona FL February 02, 2012 I would like to replace 3 large ChinaBerry & 3 large Chinese Tallow trees in my good sized back yard with some local wildlife friendly trees native to the Deltona area(first area.) What do you recomme... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Seed Habiturf on top of existing St. Augustine from Austin January 26, 2012 We don't want to rip up an existing St. Augustine lawn (potential HOA problems), but we'd like to go native grasses (like Habiturf?). Is there anything we can just seed on top of our present lawn a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Need name of company with experience in Habiturf installation in Round Rock, TX. January 24, 2012 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I read the article about "NATIVE LAWNS: HABITURF™ A MULTI-SPECIES MIX FOR NORTH, WEST AND CENTRAL TEXAS" Do you know any landscape companies/groups in Austin - Round Ro... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Need tree suggestions for a long, narrow strip in Folsom, CA. January 18, 2012 I live in Folsom, Ca. I have a long strip (50') of planting area about 2.5' wide at the top of a retaining wall to the fence behind it. I would like to plant alternating (2) trees down this strip to... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Moving "lily of the valley" from MD to TX. Is that OK? January 17, 2012 My question pertains to lily of the valley. From your database, I learned that it is a native plant but only the following states were listed: GA , KY , NC , PA , SC , TN , VA , WV. I am moving from... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| native plants for landscaping in Honolulu January 08, 2012 Hi, wildflower.org has been a great help for me in learning about different plants, their Latin names and characteristics. I was looking for a list of plants (trees, shrubs, ground covers, perennials... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Planting bluebonnets on UT Campus in Austin January 07, 2012 Hello! I am with a student organization on the University of Texas campus. Walking around campus, I have noticed the lack of the state flower of Texas, the bluebonnet. Our organization is hoping ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Planning garden tasks in advance from Austin January 03, 2012 My yard was a disaster last year-grass and trees browning, early leaf fall on flowering plants, and water bills sky high, even with the limited watering days. What can I do this year to prevent this s... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Frost damage to native plants in Austin December 19, 2011 Hello, We bought a number of native plants at this fall's WFC sale and planted them. The recent frost seems to have defoliated our pitcher sage, beautyberry, butterflyweed, and flame acanthus plan... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Live oak leaves turning yellow after planting in Houston December 19, 2011 We bought a 65 gallon live oak in early October, and have been watering fairly heavily three days a week. It seemed OK, then all of a sudden lots of the leaves are turning yellow. Is it getting too ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| When to seed a native grass lawn in a drought area? December 15, 2011 I want to plant a native grass lawn. It is raining now. Can I plant it in December? It might not be raining in the spring if the drought continues. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Color year round, welcome to Austin Texas. December 04, 2011 I am new to Austin and want to plant colorful flowers for fall and winter that get a "wow" reaction. I have not seen much at the local nurseries. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated! View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| When Should Wildflower Seeds be Planted in Dallas, Texas November 28, 2011 Mr. Pants: I have received some seed packets of wildflower seeds from GO TEXAN. How late can I plant these in central Dallas (8 a/b)? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| When to plant non-native red-tip photinia November 17, 2011 When do you plant the Red-Tip Photinia Flowering Shrubs in Roanoke VA? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Restoring fire damage in Bastrop TX November 03, 2011 I live in the Bastrop State Park area. We were severely affected by the wildfire and as we are trying to rebuild our home, we are being very aware of the particularities of the recovery process. We lo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Planting Muhlenbergia capillaris (Gulf muhly) October 27, 2011 Is it too late to plant Gulf Muhly seed in North Texas (October)? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Growing Conditions for Yucca cernua October 22, 2011 Nodding Yucca or Yucca cernua: I bought many lovely plants at the Wildflower Center sale on Friday, among them, a Nodding Yucca or Yucca cernua. 24 of the 25 plants I bought are already in the grou... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Baby mountain laurels are ready to move, in Lockhart Texas October 19, 2011 I want to harvest the baby mountain laurel plants which are growing under a large bush. What height would be best for the young plants survival? Please recommend a soil mixture for the pots. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| When to reseed wildflowers in a drought year? October 18, 2011 My acreage with extensive wildflowers was mowed in 2010 before annuals had seeded. Only a few returned this year. Considering the predicted lonterm drought should I postpone reseeding this fall? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Sun loving plants for flower bed by the pool in Weatherford Texas October 03, 2011 We have a 40' long x 2 1/2' wide flowerbed along our pool. It is in full sun with the pool deck across the front and a 6' privacy fence across back. Also, the level of the bed is 18" below the l... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Looking for a redbud sized tree to plant in Tulsa OK. September 27, 2011 I am looking for a native tree about the size of a redbud to place in my prairie bed in Tulsa Oklahoma, wildlife friendly trees preferred, thanks! View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
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