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.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants

See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

rate this answer

1 rating

Monday - October 12, 2015

From: Baddeck, NS
Region: Canada
Topic: Plant Lists, Seed and Plant Sources, User Comments
Title: Recommended Species List for Nova Scotia.
Answered by: Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

Hi, I love your site. I am from Nova Scotia and run an "Invasive Plants Cape Breton" facebook page and also "Cape Breton Garden and Botany Lovers". Was dismayed to find no recommended plants for Nova Scotia..please add? Pretty please? Thanks a lot.

ANSWER:

We appreciate your very kind words and your request! We hear you and we promise to provide the Recommended Species List you request. Unfortunately, we will not be able to do that anytime soon. The problem, most simply stated, boils down to lack of data.

In round numbers, there are about 20,000 vascular plant species native to North America. Around 1700 of those are native to Nova Scotia. The NPIN Native Plant Database is a work in progress and now includes records for approximately 40% of North America's native plant species. Unfortunately, a small percentage of Nova Scotia's native plant species have so far been treated in our database and fewer still have representative photographs in the NPIN Image Gallery. The limitations of time and resources are really all that stand between our desire to help and actually fulfilling your request.

The Recommended Species Lists are designed to help gardeners select species native to their areas that can be found at local nurseries and from native plant seed companies. As you can imagine, it's no small feat to research nurseries' and seed companies' catalogs and on-line product listings and compile these lists. In fact, our best and most useful lists are compiled by native plant enthusiasts who live in the areas in question.