Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

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?

Share

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
2 ratings

Tuesday - May 06, 2008

From: Argyle, NY
Region: Northeast
Topic: Soils, Herbs/Forbs, Shrubs
Title: Plants for full sun and clay soil in NY
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

We live in upstate new york( zone 5) with full sun and clay soil. What flowers/flowering shrubs would be successful in this environment?

ANSWER:

There are two routes to an answer to your question. First, we can go to the Recommended Species page and pick New York. This will give you a list of commercially available native plants suitable for landscaping. You can then browse through the more than 100 species listed and learn about their growth requirements.

You can also go to the Native Plant Database and do a Combination Search choosing New York under "All states and provinces" and choosing "Sun - 6 or more hours of sun per day" under "Light requirement". This will give you nearly 800 plants to look through. You can check the soil type under "Growing Conditions" on each species page.

This will give you to opportunity to do your own choosing, but I will recommend a few favorites:

Shrubs/small trees

Amorpha fruticosa (desert false indigo)

Ceanothus americanus (New Jersey tea)

Lindera benzoin (northern spicebush)

Physocarpus opulifolius (common ninebark)

Prunus virginiana (chokecherry)

Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac)

Shepherdia argentea (silver buffaloberry)

Herbaceous plants

Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)

Conoclinium coelestinum (blue mistflower)

Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf tickseed)

Lobelia siphilitica (great blue lobelia)

Lobelia cardinalis (cardinalflower)

Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot)

Rudbeckia hirta (blackeyed Susan)


Amorpha fruticosa

Ceanothus americanus

Lindera benzoin

Physocarpus opulifolius

Rhus aromatica

Shepherdia argentea

Prunus virginiana

Achillea millefolium

22

 


Conoclinium coelestinum

Coreopsis lanceolata

Lobelia siphilitica

Lobelia cardinalis

Monarda fistulosa

Rudbeckia hirta
 

More Soils Questions

Plants adding calcium to soil
June 08, 2006 - Hi, I am looking for a resource to help determine the functions of native plants. For instance, nitrogen fixing can be found in Indigo, Lead plant, lupines. Are there other plants that add back cal...
view the full question and answer

Weak stems on asters and ironweed from Woodbridge ON
June 06, 2012 - My question is in regards to plants flopping over. My smooth asters and ironweeds never seem to have strong stems. Is because the soil is too fertile or maybe too shallow?
view the full question and answer

Habiturf installation after Take-All fungus
January 24, 2012 - Are other soil remedies needed (besides those listed in your Habiturf brochure) to install Habiturf on land which had a St. Augustine lawn which was decimated by take all patch.
view the full question and answer

Will wood shavings in the soil require nitrogen from Charleston MO
May 04, 2011 - I cut down a big maple tree and a lot of the wood shavings was left in the soil. I planted a flower bed over the area this spring. I later read that the wood chips in the soil would use a lot of nitro...
view the full question and answer

Soils for spiderwort from Round Rock TX
August 08, 2013 - We have spiderworts growing naturally in our backyard. We put a large circle around them them with limestone rock (as our beds have) to make their own bed as they clumped in one area. What kind of s...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.