Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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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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| 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 | ||
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