Native Plants
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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.
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Tuesday - August 19, 2008
From: Houston, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shade Tolerant
Title: Plants for shade
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I live in hot, humid Houston and the tree coverage of my yard is nearly 100 percent (so, little sunlight reaches the ground). Can you suggest a plant or two that would thrive in these conditions?ANSWER:
You can find a list of East Texas Recommended plants, native plants that are commercially available for landscaping in East Texas, by choosing the East Texas section of the map on our Recommended Species page. From that list of over 130 species, you can narrow your search to plants that do well in the shade. First, select the Narrow Your Search option at the top of the list, then under Light Requirement select 'Shade - Less than 2 hours of sun per day'. There are more than 30 plants—trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants—that fit these requirements. Here are a few that Mr. SP particularly likes:Chasmanthium latifolium (Inland sea oats)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Hydrangea quercifolia (oakleaf hydrangea)
Iris brevicaulis (zigzag iris)
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinalflower)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Phlox divaricata (wild blue phlox)
More Shade Tolerant Questions
Small area native plant gardening for an apartment
November 14, 2008 - Mr.Smarty, We live in an apartment and are fortunate to have a small area, 5'x5', and so want color! Here in Houston the winters don't freeze much and the summers are HOT. Luckily, we are in the ...
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Replacing mature Arizona Ash trees in Austin
August 26, 2011 - Mr. Smarty Plants,
I have 2 very large, very old Arizona Ash trees in my yard. I want to remove them and replace them with something like Cedar Elm or Chinquapin Oak. The problem is that they are t...
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July 29, 2015 - I was given some seed for the pearl milkweed vine which I intend to plant, but I can find no information on whether to stratify or scarify them or just plant them. I know some milkweeds require strati...
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Plants for a Austin thicket underlayer
July 25, 2014 - We live in Austin, west of 183. We are planning to put a thicket in our backyard, where there is no threat of deer. Anchoring the thicket are a clump of live oaks, a Texas persimmon, an Eve's Necklac...
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