Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
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Friday - March 06, 2009
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Non-native begonias and Texas summer
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I live in Austin, TX. I have two flower beds that each get plenty of sun during the day (8 to 10 hours in summer time). I love Begonias and was considering planting Begonias in my flowerbeds. Will Begonias survive the sun and heat of Texas summers?ANSWER:
There are about 1500 species of begonias, which occur in subtropical and tropical climates in South and Central America, Africa and Southern Asia. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is focused on the care and propagation of plants native not only to North America but to the area in which they are being grown. A plant adapted to the area where it is being grown will require less fertilizer, water and maintenance. Generally speaking, it sounds like you have too much sun in the area in which you wish to plant begonias, but since they are out of our range of expertise, we will refer you to this American Begonia Society website The Virtual Greenhouse.More Non-Natives Questions
Failure to thrive of Lantanas
August 06, 2008 - Here at work we have 4 beautiful yellow Santanas(should I say had), the leaves have started to turn brown and no longer blooming. Appears to have a fungus or disease.
Please help!
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Repotting non-native Agave ghiesbreghtii from Spring TX
June 03, 2012 - I've recently purchased an Agave ghiesbreghtii, and will need to re-pot it soon.
I have some cactus soil mix as well as a few rocks to put in the bottom of its new pot. There seem to be roots comi...
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Help for a Transplanted Bougainvillea
April 22, 2014 - I recently planted a bougainvillea in our south-facing front yard. While planting it, we inadvertently severed a large portion of the root system from the plant. What, if anything, can we do to help...
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Control of non-native invasive ground ivy in Grand Junction TN
May 08, 2010 - Dear Mr. Smarty Pants,
I live in the Southwest portion of TN about 50 miles east of Memphis. We have an invasive plant, called Ground Ivy, Glechoma hederacea L in our yard and pasture now which is ta...
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Problems with non-native plumbago in San Antonio
November 21, 2009 - Plumbago problem. Live in San Antonio. Planted about 7 of these last spring, all from same store and at the same time. They are HUGE, blooming, thriving, except for the two on the end. They're in a d...
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