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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| Flowering plants for shade in Ohio June 15, 2008 I am trying to find flowering plants I can grow in my perennial shade garden. So far I am having a difficult time except for hostas, nettle and myrtle. I need help to get my miniature lilac to blo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Large shrub for screen in shade June 11, 2008 I am trying to find some large shrubs that will thrive in shade in the north Texas climate. This area will receive very little light during the day but need to grow quite large to hide a fence and cr... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native understory plants for shade under live oaks June 09, 2008 I have large live oak trees in my front yard. I would like to start North Central Texas native landscaping under them, where no grass will grow. Do you know of some plants that would do well in ful... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native ground covers for shade in East Texas June 06, 2008 I live in Mount Pleasant, Texas which is in northeast Texas. I would like a list of ground covers that would do well in our area. The place I want to put it gets a lot of shade. The ground is clay. Th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Screening bush for shady area June 05, 2008 I need some kind of bush that will act as an air conditioning blind. So far the deer have eaten or destroyed everything planted in the very shady mulch bed. What do you recommend? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Different shades of green in Taxodium distichum (bald cypress) June 05, 2008 I have two bald cypress trees 50 feet apart, but there was very different soil in the two holes. One was a clayey soil and the other was much more the Austin limestone soil. The trees are about 2 ye... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Turks cap not blooming in Austin June 03, 2008 Why is my Turks Cap not blooming? It gets about an hour of sun in the morning, then shade for the rest of the day. It gets watered with the sprinkler system that waters our lawn. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Tree and vine for shade and privacy June 03, 2008 We recently added a deck in our backyard which faces west, we live in Circle C (southwest Austin). The afternoon sun is intense so we're looking to plant something along our fence line to provide sh... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native plants for dry shade in Virginia May 23, 2008 I live in Reston, Virginia and have dry shade. What are the best plants to use for my garden. Xeriscaping and native plants are important considerations. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Evergreen groundcover under pine tree in NY May 23, 2008 Hello! I live in upstate NY. I'm trying to find an evergreen ground cover to plant under a pine tree. I believe it's a white spruce (but I'm not postive). I've read conflicting information reg... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Shade ground cover in San Antonio May 18, 2008 I would like to find plants, spreading ground or flowers, to go under my red tips. These plants would be in a lot shade and not a great deal of water. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Groundcover to help ease erosion in shade May 17, 2008 My house is situated on an embankment near a creek. We are looking for ground cover plants that can help ease the erosion of the embankment without being invasive for the existing trees. They must be... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Groundcover for sun/part shade in Austin May 07, 2008 I live in Southwest Austin and I have a small backyard that has part sun/part shade. I have no grass in the backyard and my soil is not the healthiest, so I would like to plant some groundcover versus... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native grasses to accompany buffalograss in shade May 01, 2008 What grass goes with buffalo for shade/partial shade? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native shade plants for sandy soil in New York April 30, 2008 I have a small patch (about 10 feet x 6 feet) of shady ground next to my house. The soil is very sandy. I really would like some perennial color - or at this point, anything actually - that will grow... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants to disguise plastic rainbarrels in dry shade April 29, 2008 What plants would you recommend to disguise blue plastic rainbarrels in dry shade? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native moss to fill in between flagstones April 21, 2008 I live in Houston and have a long, narrow flagstone path that runs along the east side of the house. I am looking for a native moss that can fill in between the flagstones and will tolerate morning su... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Perennial phlox for partial shade April 16, 2008 I am planting a butterfly garden in a plot that gets sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. I read that phlox does well in partial-shade areas, and was wondering which native, perennial phlox ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Correct cultural conditions for liatris April 15, 2008 I recently bought some gayfeather (liatris pycnostachya) and planted in my yard in a nice full sun spot. Gets sun for roughly 10 hours a day. However, it's also the single driest spot in my yard (jus... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native plants for partial shade in Pennsylvania April 04, 2008 Much of my growing area in Northern exposure, shade-partial shade once trees get leaves. I'm looking for native plants to use for screens and for ground-covers, grasses and edible plants. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Sedges or grasses for sun/shade in Georgetown, TX March 24, 2008 I have an area that is part shaded (under oak trees) and part in the sun. I would like cedar sedge in the shaded areas (some is already growing there)but I can not find where to buy it. Do you know w... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Pros and cons of Hydrocotyl bonariensis as lawn replacement March 22, 2008 Want to convert lawn TO dollar weed! My Garland TX yard has become so shady over the years that I have a hard time with grass. A few years ago I noticed dollar weed in the grass which seemed to cre... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Groundcover for shade in San Antonio March 21, 2008 I have a large red oak tree in the front yard. It is keeping any sun except filtered underneath. Faces n/w and in san antonio. I need a ground cover that is drought tolerant and likes the shade and h... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Native grasses for dry shade in North Central Texas March 09, 2008 I live in North Central Texas and have an area that is 80% shade and a dry soil condition. What native grasses would be suitable for this location? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Selection of shade tree and distance from house February 19, 2008 I live in California in zone 8b. I have seen the lists of trees for my area. I am still not clear on what tree to select. I would like to plant a nice tall shady tree very close to my house, but I wan... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants for shady area in Brenham, TX February 19, 2008 I have an area which receives shade all day, but gets a lot of sun just before sunset. What sorts of plants would do well? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Vines for shade in Central Texas February 04, 2008 We'd like to fill in our long expanse of yard fencing with climbing vines. We are limited by 40' live oaks that cut off the sun but surely something works in the shade and heat! View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Suggestion for plants to replace grass in semi-shade in NY February 01, 2008 I have an area that is in semi-shade but gets about 4-5 hours of sunlight in the summer. Instead of grass I would like to perhaps use wild flowers or even prairie type grasses. Any suggestions?? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Texas natives that are shade tolerant for Austin, TX January 21, 2008 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I am looking for Texas native plants that are shade tolerant....specifically agaves (How about the Century Agave and the Queen Victoria Agave?) and something to add a splash ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Landscaping with wildflowers in shade in Maryland January 11, 2008 I'm an old White House Correspondent who covered LBJ as well as Mrs Johnson and knew and admired her. I visited the Wildflower Center with her on one occasion. I hope you will forward this to an appr... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Shade-loving native plants for South Carolina January 08, 2008 I am looking to incorporate a native plants section in my backyard. Shade seems to be a limiting factor in some parts, especially where I would look to create a natural hedge bordering my neighbor's... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Grass or ground cover for sun/part shade in Austin December 30, 2007 I live in Southwest Austin (a couple of miles from the Wildflower Center) and I would like to plant some grass in my backyard. I have a small yard with several oak trees and they have been cut back to... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Evergreen plants for shaded bed and removing bermuda grass. November 29, 2007 Hi, Mr. Smarty Plants, I have two questions. First, the back of our house in Williamson County faces north. We have plant beds (about one foot wide and the length of the house) up against the back w... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Fast growing shade tree for Phoenix, Arizona November 07, 2007 Would you recommend a fast growing shade tree for Phoenix, AZ that will grow at least 30 ft. high and with a similar canopy in clay soil? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Shade-loving plants for a long, narrow bed. October 31, 2007 We are installing a bed with a student-made sculpture dedicated to mothers at our high school in Austin, Texas. The bed is against the two-story school, east facing,and shaded by cedar elm. What can... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Wildflowers suitable for full sun and partial shade in the Dallas, Texas area October 22, 2007 What wildflowers are best for the Dallas area both in sunny and semi shade locations? Are you able to purchase by mail? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants for wildlife and trees for shade. September 29, 2007 We live in Kempner Texas, our land has mostly cedar trees. We would like to make a wildlife habitat on the back side of our property. Can you recommend plants that will grow in shade to partial sun,... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native alternatives for Japanese maple September 05, 2007 Hi, I am a landscaper trying to create a landscape in a shaded area with no sun. The person likes a Acer palmatum, but I am not sure it will grow there. We live in South Lake Tahoe. So I know of some ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Recommendations for native shade plants in sandy soil July 30, 2007 I live in Rockport, TX, and would like to plant a small, shaded triangular corner (bounded on 2 sides by wooden fence)in my front yard. The area has limited southern exposure due to shading by live o... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native alterrnatives for Bermuda grass in shade July 30, 2007 I have Bermuda Tif 419 on my lawn. As expected, there are small areas in the shade that the Bermuda is not doing well in. What would happen if I spread Zoysia seed in those shady areas? Would it gro... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Spring blooming plants for spring sun and summer shade July 03, 2007 I live in San Antonio. I'm faced with a dilemma. I've got mature native pecans. In the summer they provide beautiful full shade. However, in the winter and even into the late spring, my yard is ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Sedges and ornamentals for shade in Bastrop County June 20, 2007 I bought a home in Elgin, TX that was owned by an elderly woman. Most of the lawn is shaded by elm or pecan trees. In the sunny areas, i got native wildflowers to grow like lantana and coneflower,... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Variety of native tall plants for a screen in shady area near Ft. Worth June 12, 2007 Hello, we live west of Ft Worth. We are looking for tall plants to form a visual screen along a chain link fence we share with a neighbor. We have post oaks there and it is very shady and the ground ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native plants for heavy clay soil in east Austin May 02, 2007 I live in East Austin and have very thick clay soil on my property. I also have a lot of shade and partial sun/shade. Can you suggest some native plant varieties that are well-adapted to these condi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Central Texas plants for dry partial shade April 17, 2007 I live in Austin Texas. My front garden area has rocky dry soil with intermittent sunlight and shade, maybe 2 to 4 hours of sunlight a day. Herbs do great. What perennial flowers (for some color) w... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Deer resistant, shade tolerant plants for Austin, TX April 16, 2007 I am looking for plants to put in my front yard--very shaded, and need to be deer resistant. I would love some things in the blue family. Also want blues in my back yard that is a combination of ful... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native plants for north facing shaded bed in Austin April 02, 2007 I have a northfacing house in central Austin. I dug a large bed along the front that gets almost full shade. What native plants will thrive in that space? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Deer resistant plants for large pot in light shade in Austin March 30, 2007 For an Austin yard, please suggest a shrub or a mixture of plants for a 15 gallon clay pot. The area has dappled light and deer. I would prefer a deciduous plant if possible. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants for shady courtyard classroom garden in Weatherford, TX March 27, 2007 I am wanting to create an outdoor classroom area in the courtyard of my school. The courtyard is enclosed by all four sides and the building is two stories high. It does not receive much sunlight. Mos... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native plants for dry shade in Austin March 27, 2007 I live in North Austin, and I'd like to find plants that would work in dry shade. This area does receive a couple of hours of morning sun, and I've had great luck with Hinckley's Columbine. Any o... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Green roof plants tolerating shade July 01, 2006 I am researching extensive greenroof plants for a potential site in Austin. The roof surface is shaded for most days of the the year. Are there any top choices for plants for this condition? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native plants for shady small spaces in Houston, TX June 18, 2006 What are the best plants and flowers to plant in small spaces in an urban area in Houston, Texas? I have several flower beds that are 3 foot wide and 10-12 foot long that get half day sun. The area... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants for shade native to New York June 13, 2006 I am gradually trying to convert my garden to all natives. I am working in a shaded area under a maple tree. Are there any varieties of epimediums/barrenwort or hellebores that are native to the nor... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Saving or transplanting stand of white trillium that has lost shade May 29, 2006 We have a generous stand of white trillium that has been under the shade of a white oak for many years. Now the 100+ year old oak has died and the trilliums are in the sun. Are we in danger of losin... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native flowers and ground cover for damp, shady area in Wisconsin May 11, 2006 I would like to plant some flowers and ground cover in the front of my yard near my home. This spot is usually damp and nearly always shaded. Any suggestions? Also I'm looking for blue flowering pla... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Michigan native plants for shady, low traffic area May 10, 2006 Hello, I am looking for a recommendation for a Michigan native groundcover. I live adjacent to the Rouge River watershed and want to buy the right thing. The location is shady, infrequently walked ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native plants with little sun and northern exposure for New York April 26, 2006 I live in a co-op and want to fix up the backyard. The backyard area has a west area to plant with a northern exposure and little sun and I am looking to plant something to cover the area. I would lik... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Small evergreen native shrubs for apartment garden in shade in St. Louis November 25, 2005 I live in an apartment in St. Louis, MO, and have a small patch of rocky soil in the stairwell that I would like to plant with a native or natives. The area is entirely shaded, but all the natives I... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native plants for moist and shady yard in Rowlett, TX February 21, 2005 I have an area of my yard that has drainage issues. It stays quite moist most of the time and is shady a large part of the day. I would like to plant some native plants in that area. Maybe something t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native perennials for moist shade in Missouri January 16, 2005 I live near Adrian, Mo (s of KC by an hour). I currently have a small hillside that is covered by trees and shaded all day and also seems to hold moisture really well. The hill seems to grow a littl... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Part sun and part shade October 19, 2004 What is the difference between part sun and part shade? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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