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

Saturday - October 20, 2007
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Poisonous Plants
Title: Plants repellant to snakes
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
Is there anything a gardener can plant to keep snakes away, especially poisonous snakes? Are there plants that attract snakes (Our dog was bitten by a cottonmouth right near our back porch a couple of weeks ago. He's ok now). I looked online and couldn't find anything.ANSWER:
First, I want to point out that the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is centered on the care and propagation of plants native to North America. The snakes you'll see around Austin are most definitely native, but they're not plants. However, you did ask if we knew of plants that attract or repel snakes. Frankly, no. Snakes do just as well in really hostile deserts and lush tropical settings. They are well adapted to their surroundings.We found this University of Mississippi website Repelling Snakes. They cite many good points about management of habitat, closing possible points of entry and eliminating debris or brush piles where the snakes can hide. It is a very complete study, and says that although there are a number of folklore "fixes" for snakes, nothing has been proved to be positively repellant to the little slithery creatures.
If you happen to come upon a magic potion, we'd like to hear about it, too!
More Poisonous Plants Questions
Replacing Drought-Stricken Cedars
January 16, 2012 - Hello, I live in Williamson County on a couple acres. We have several dead cedars as a result of drought; we're reluctant to cut them down because many of them provide a friendly barrier between us...
view the full question and answer
Affect of poisonous plant roots in soils for vegetables from Rusk TX
May 11, 2013 - I have a huge old flowerbed in front of my house that I want to plant veggies in, but I'm afraid to. It has a catalpa tree there, which I sell the worms from, but the entire tree (bark, leaves, flowe...
view the full question and answer
Major poisonous plants in California
June 26, 2013 - Hi!
So I'm working on an art project that requires a comprehensive list of poisonous plants within California. I'm looking specifically however, for plants which are fatally poisonous (upon inges...
view the full question and answer
Is mulch from hackberry and chinaberry trees safe for flowerbeds?
September 17, 2014 - We had to remove several large hackberry and china berry trees. Is its mulch safe to use in garden and in flower beds?
view the full question and answer
Toxicity of Fan Tex Ash tree to horses
July 22, 2012 - Is the Fan Tex Ash tree toxic to horses?
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |