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
Wednesday - August 01, 2012
From: Olga, WA
Region: Northwest
Topic: Meadow Gardens, Septic Systems, Grasses or Grass-like, Herbs/Forbs, Wildflowers
Title: Wildflower field for sewage leach field from Olga Washington
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I am interested in planting a large native wildflower field at a resort in the San Juan Islands in Washington State. It would be over a sewage leach field for many cabins and bathrooms. Are there any plants I should avoid for fear of hurting pipes? Any idea about when I should be planting? Any help would be much appreciated.ANSWER:
This really is two questions: 1. How do I plant a meadow garden? and 2. What do I plant over a sewage leach field? Fortunately, on No. 2, we have links to several previously answered questions concerning plants that are appropriate for planting above septic lines. On. Question No. 1, we have two How-To Articles that should help you with the procedure.
Large Scale Wildflower Planting
From these links, we hope that you have gotten the message that, in your case, wildflowers and native grasses, with long fibrous roots are good and woody plants, trees and shrubs, not good.
Now, down to the nitty-gritty. We will start with our Native Plant Database. Using the Combination Search, we will select on Washington and first herbs/forbs (herbaceous blooming plants, i.e., wildflowers) and second on grasses. You should probably make a rough map of the property determining where there is sun (6 hours or more of sun a day), part shade (2 to 6 hours of sun) or shade (less than 2 hours). Since we do not know these characteristics, you can run your own search later. You can also, as you get comfortable with the database, specify heights, annual/perennial, even bloom time and color, if you wish. Of course, the more specifications you put in, the fewer (or none) choices you will get. Follow each plant link to our webpage on that plant, check the Growing Conditions, Soil Moisture, Light Requirements, etc. This can take time: there are 1057 herbs or forbs in our database native to Washington State and 253 grasses. We checked on each one that we chose to make sure it grew natively in your area.
Wildflowers for San Juan Islands, Washington:
Achillea millefolium (Common yarrow)
Anaphalis margaritacea (Pearly-everlasting)
Aquilegia formosa (Western columbine)
Bidens cernua (Nodding beggartick)
Castilleja miniata ssp. miniata (Giant red indian paintbrush)
Campanula rotundifolia (Bluebell bellflower)
Grasses for San Juan Island, Washington:
Carex stipata (Owlfruit sedge)
Eriophorum angustifolium (Tall cottongrass)
Hordeum jubatum (Foxtail barley)
Phalaris arundinacea (Reed canarygrass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (Little bluestem)
Finally, we searched on "native plants of San Juan Islands, WA" and got a whole slew of good sites. We want to urge you to use bedding plants or seeds ONLY from plants native to, and gathered from, your own area. These sites should have some information on that.
San Juan Islands Conservation District
San Juan Island National Historical Park
From the Image Gallery
More Wildflowers Questions
More on bluebonnets
April 05, 2006 - Hello:
We have been told that the sparse Bluebonnet
appearance this Spring is due to sparse rainfall at the
appropriate times. Were there fewer seeds to sprout
and grow? Or are the seeds still ...
view the full question and answer
Sowing additional wildflower and grass seeds on steep hillside
January 30, 2006 - Mr. Smarty,
we recently moved to Hot Springs, AR. We have about a 1000 sf hillside area too steep to plant with shrubs etc. We had wildflower seeds scattered last May in this area and the flowers we...
view the full question and answer
Is it illegal in Texas to pick bluebonnets? No.
December 01, 2008 - Is it illegal in Texas to pick a bluebonnet?
view the full question and answer
Time of year for wildflower viewing in Northern Indiana and Michigan
April 22, 2007 - I used to live in the southern US but now live in Northern Indiana and was wondering if wildflower fields will be blooming here and in Michigan by early May (I was hoping to do some rural exploring th...
view the full question and answer
Wintering over Bluebonnets in a pot in Oklahoma
November 22, 2009 - I live near Tulsa, OK, and I have spent the last year trying to grow bluebonnets in a container. I have been very successful in this process and they are so beautiful and full, but now I am worried ab...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |