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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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!

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Saturday - October 18, 2008

From: Wallace, SC
Region: Southeast
Topic: Wildflower Center
Title: Purchase of herbs from Wildflower Center
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Can I purchase herbs from the Wildflower Center?

ANSWER:

If you are searching our Native Plant Database, and want to Narrow Your Search, the first qualification for the plant you are searching for is "Herb," which means herbaceous in habit, usually losing leaves and/or dying back to the ground in the Winter. In that sense, yes, you can purchase herbs from the Wildflower Center. The Fall Plant Sale is going on now, with a number of herbaceous plants for sale, and there is another Plant Sale in the Spring. During the rest of the year, a few plants are available at the Store, but other than the sales and those at the Store, we do not sell plants.

If, when you say "herb," you mean plants like rosemary, lavender, sage, etc., then the answer is no, you cannot buy them at the Wildflower Center. They are all non-native to North America, and at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center we specialize in plants native to North America and to the area in which they are being grown. The reason for this is that plants adapted to an area by millennia of growing there will be more able to cope with the conditions, thus requiring less water, fertilizer and maintenance.

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Saturday - October 18, 2008

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