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
Not Yet Rated

Wednesday - December 29, 2004

From: Round Rock, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Propagation
Title: Propagation of American Bittersweet
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Will American Bittersweet grow in Central Texas?

ANSWER:

The American bittersweet, Celastrus scandens, will grow in Central Texas. You can read about it on the Wildflower Center web page. Be sure to check out the information concerning "Benefits", "Growing Conditions", etc., on the menu bar under "Taxonomy Table".

You can see a photograph of American bittersweet and read more about it on the National Wildlife Federation eNature web page and in the USDA Plants Database.

Jill Nokes (How to Grow Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest. 2001. Rev. and updated ed. Austin: University of Texas Press.) gives information about collecting, storing and propagating American bittersweet. This book may be available at your local library or you can purchase it from Wild Ideas, the Wildflower Center store.

 

From the Image Gallery


American bittersweet
Celastrus scandens

More Propagation Questions

Transplanting bamboo
July 29, 2008 - To transplant bamboo from one place to another, do you dig the plant up or do you get a cutting, put it in water and then root the plant?
view the full question and answer

Is slow growth of young Tx mountain laurel normal?
July 02, 2012 - My Texas mountain laurel is 2 or 3 years old and is about 4 feet tall. It seems quite healthy but has grown very little, if any, and has never bloomed. Is this normal? Although I don't want it to gro...
view the full question and answer

Loss of bloom stalk on Yucca filamentosa from Scotch Plains NJ
April 27, 2013 - We have 3 Yucca filamentosa L. planted together, in NJ. A friend of ours was helping to remove the weeds, little did she know and removed the blooming stalk from the plants. By the time I saw, it was ...
view the full question and answer

Planting instructions for Ilex verticillata in Wisconsin
September 02, 2008 - We have a winterberry tree and we would like to grow another one in a different area. Can we transplant part of that or do we need to start from scratch? How would we know what the male plant looks li...
view the full question and answer

Pollination of blackberries in Lake Winnebago, MO
May 27, 2010 - Not sure if blackberries are native, but my daughter got a start of one at a plant exchange at the nature center. Do we need more than one for it to pollinate correctly? We have strawberries growing i...
view the full question and answer

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