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.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Friday - September 11, 2009
From: Pottstown, PA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Water Gardens
Title: Water-loving native plants for Pottstown, PA
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I live about 40 miles west of Philadelphia. I am looking for a water absorbing evergreen tree/bush/plant that I could plant in the rear of my yard. We get a small stream every good rain and the back half of the yard stays water saturated. The yard in that area gets full sun. The soil has a lot of shale throughout.ANSWER:
We have a How-To-Article Water Gardening that will give you some ideas on how to treat this area, but that is not exactly what you want. What you want is a wetland or a rain garden, with plants that can both withstand dry weather as well as having their feet in standing water for a short period. The rain garden is not only a way to deal with streams of rain water and with saturated soil, but also helps to filter out pollutants and filter the water before it goes rushing off to lakes and your water supply. Here is an article from Rain gardens of West Michigan with some basic information to get you started thinking in that direction.
The best reference source we found was from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Rain Gardens, a How-To Manual for Homeowners. It is fairly lengthy, and probably involves more than you actually need or want to do for your problem area, but it has good explanations of why a rain garden is important to water and soil conservation and quality of our water supply, while giving you an attractive, useful area in your yard.
And, finally, this website Native Rain Gardens makes our point about native plants. In the same vein, please read our How-To Article A Guide to Native Plant Gardening. Our next step is going to be selecting grasses and herbaceous blooming plants that do well in sun, tolerate wet feet, are perennial and are native not only to Pennsylvania but to the area around Montgomery County in southeast Pennsylvania. Follow the links to the webpage on each individual plant to learn more about the soil the plant prefers, expected size, color and time of bloom, etc. These are all attractive garden plants that will function well in a rain garden, but if you would like more choice, to our Native Plant Database, and do a Combination Search, selecting the characteristics and habits that you feel apply.
Herbaceous blooming plants for a rain garden in Pottstown PA
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
Equisetum arvense (field horsetail)
Eupatorium perfoliatum (common boneset)
Iris versicolor (harlequin blueflag)
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinalflower)
Lobelia siphilitica (great blue lobelia)
Scutellaria integrifolia (helmet flower)
Solidago rugosa (wrinkleleaf goldenrod)
Grasses and grass-like plants for a rain garden in Pottstown PA
Andropogon glomeratus (bushy bluestem)
Carex stipata (owlfruit sedge)
Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (softstem bulrush)
More Water Gardens Questions
Note on pond over oak roots from Round Rock TX
December 23, 2012 - Thanks very much to Barbara for answering my question about the live oaks - covering parts of their root systems with a pond. Your answer inspired discussion, and we changed our pond plan and moved th...
view the full question and answer
Flowering vine for trellis behind fountain in Anaheim Hills CA
June 05, 2010 - We are looking for a flowering vine to plant on a trellis surrounding a water fountain. The fountain splashes leaving the soil constantly wet. We have tried numerous vines, but they all die due to t...
view the full question and answer
Specifying sizes of plants for pond edge plantings in Austin area
December 19, 2014 - I am working on a list of pond edge plantings for the Austin area that will be in the fluctuation zone and I have my list of my plants but I need to know how to spec the sizes and to make sure my list...
view the full question and answer
Erosion prevention on shady Pennsylvania stream
July 28, 2011 - I'm looking for a few species to plant along a stream channel to help reduce erosion during heavy rains. The soil is moist and in full shade. Ferns and thorny bushes are the only current vegetation...
view the full question and answer
Water absorbing plant from Surbiton, England
May 21, 2011 - Ground soggy with rain, is there a plant that will absorb water?
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |