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

Thursday - May 12, 2005

From: west pittston, PA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Deer Resistant
Title: Perennial plants native to northeastern Pennsylvania
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

What perennial plants are native to northeastern Pennsylvania?

ANSWER:

Visit the Regional Factpacks page and select "Recommended Native Plant Species List" for the Mid-Atlantic region. There you can find (in PDF format to download) a list of plants that can be planted in that region with a column that gives the specific states for each plant. The list is divided into plant groups: Ferns, Grasses, Shrubs, Trees, Vines, and Herbaceous (wildflowers). There is a column for both the scientific and the common name, and a column with comments on the average height of the plant, the bloom color and period, and the ideal light and moisture requirements. You can pretty well count on shrubs and trees being perennials and so are many plants in the other categories. Unfortunately, the list doesn't give that information. However, you can get that information by looking up the plant in the Native Plants Database. You can also do a Combination Search on that database and have the option of selecting criteria in four different categories for your search. The categories are: 1) Bloom Characteristic (color and time), 2) Growth Form (habit and duration), 3) Growing Conditions (light needs, water use, and soil moisture), and 4) U. S. Distribution. I also suggest that you contact the Pennsylvania Native Plant Society. It is possible that they have compiled lists of species for your area.

Native Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

rate this answer

Thursday - May 12, 2005

QUESTION:

ANSWER:

More Deer Resistant Questions