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.

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Tuesday - September 02, 2008

From: Nashville, TN
Region: Southeast
Topic: Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Native plants for bioswale in Tennessee
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

What native plants do you recommend for a bioswale in Tennessee?

ANSWER:

Obviously, you saw our previous answer on a bioswale in Baltimore. Without repeating all the explanation, we are going to give you a list of prairie grasses that are native to Tennessee. These are all members of the Poaceae or grass family. You can find alternatives for yourself by going to the Native Plant Database and Narrow Your Search by selecting Tennessee and grass or grasslike habit. Then, go to our Native Plant Suppliers section, type in your town and state in the Enter Search Location box and you will get a list of native seed companies, plant nurseries and landscape professional in your general area. They can probably give you better advice and plant recommendations than we can from a distance.

Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)

Andropogon glomeratus (bushy bluestem)

Bothriochloa laguroides ssp. torreyana (silver beardgrass)

Bromus ciliatus (fringed brome)

Chasmanthium latifolium (Inland sea oats)

Dichanthelium sphaerocarpon (roundseed panicgrass)

Elymus canadensis (Canada wildrye)

Elymus hystrix var. hystrix (eastern bottlebrush grass)