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

Wednesday - August 13, 2008

From: Wichita Falls, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Seed and Plant Sources
Title: Wildflower seeds for Nocona, Texas
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I have a place on Lake Nocona in Nocona,TX and am wanting to buy native wild flower seeds that will take the heat and little water. I have both sunlight and shade. I,m interested in the western prairie petunia and what ever else you suggest. I just need to know where to order them. Thanks.

ANSWER:

First, I am assuming that you want to make a kind of wildflower meadow, not wildflowers in flowerbeds. If that's the case, I suggest that you read our How-to-article, Meadow Gardening, for hints on preparing and planting your area. Next, I recommend that you visit the web site of Native American Seed in Junction, Texas to see their variety of wildflower mixes for Texas. The species that they list, especially in the Texas-Oklahoma Native Roadside Mix, should meet your criteria.

I'm not sure whether you mean Ruellia occidentalis (western wild petunia) or Ruellia humilis (fringeleaf wild petunia) [called by some prairie petunia]. Neither are for sale on the Native American Seed site. I did a search in our National Suppliers Directory for other Texas nurseries that specialize in native plants and found the following:

Wichita Valley Nursery in Wichita Falls, Texas has several Ruella spp., but doesn't list R. humilus or R. occidentalis.

Rohde's Nursery in Garland, Texas lists assorted Mexican petunias (Ruellia spp.) for sale, but not R. humilus or R. occidentalis. [Note: Ruellia brittonniana syn. Ruellia caerula (Mexican petunia or Britton's wild petunia) is not native to Texas.]

Stuart Nursery in Weatherford, Texas lists Mexican petunia.

Weston Gardens in Bloom in Fort Worth also lists several Ruellia species.