Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Without a little more information about conditions in your yard, we probably can't speculate on why the leaves are wilting. They could be plants that need more shade than they are getting, or more water, etc. However, we certainly can teach you how to use our Native Plant Database to locate plants native to Lucas County in northwest Ohio, at the western edge of Lake Erie. It's important for plants you use to be native to that area, because the natives will be adjusted by centuries of experience to the somewhat difficult growing conditions there, including high humidity in the Summer, and low temperatures and cold lake winds in the Winter.

Begin by going to our Native Plant Database and, using the Combination Search, select on Ohio, then on the Habit (Tree, Shrub, Herb, Grass/Grasslike, etc). Next, indicate the conditions in your garden where you want the particular gardens to grow - this includes soil moisture, light requirements, even projected height of the selected plants. Without knowing those characteristics, we can only select on State and Habit, and then check to see if our selection is native to your area.We will give you one of each habit, and when you are familiar with our database, you can do your own searches. Follow each plant link to our webpage on that plant to learn what it needs in the way of sun, soil moisture, and growing conditions.

Herb (herbaceous blooming plant):Agalinis purpurea (Purple false foxglove

USDA map

Shrub:Amelanchier arborea (Common serviceberry)    USDA map

Tree:Cercis canadensis (Eastern redbud)    USDA map

Cactus/Succulent:None

Grass/Grasslike:Calamagrostis canadensis (Bluejoint)   USDA map

Ferns:Dryopteris carthusiana (Shield fern)    USDA map

Vine:Celastrus scandens (American bittersweet)   USDA map