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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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
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Tuesday - June 23, 2009
From: San Antonio, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Planting distance for non-native crepe myrtles in San Antonio
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I just purchased 7 katawba crepe myrtles and would like to know how far apart I need to space them. I am placing down on the right side of my front yard. They are in 5 gallon containers and about 5 - 6 ft tall.ANSWER:
Lagerstroemia indica (Catawba crape myrtles) are native to Asia, and therefore out of our range of expertise. At the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, we are dedicated to the care, propagation and protection of plants native not only to North America but to the area in which the plant is being grown. Because this plant is so extensively hybridized (another reason why they are out of our purview) we have no way of knowing what its growth habit is-shrub, tree, big, dwarf? We found a website from Mortellaro's Nursery on Lagerstroemia indica (Catawba crape myrtles). If this does not have the answer to your question, we recommend you return to the nursery where you purchased your plants for the information you need.More Non-Natives Questions
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March 17, 2009 - Green pittisporum that I planted 2 years ago and 1 year ago are getting a lot of yellow leaves. Variegated pittisporum that I planted at the same 2 times are doing fine.
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Problems with non-native weeping willow from Hazlet NJ
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When to plant non-native red-tip photinia
November 17, 2011 - When do you plant the Red-Tip Photinia Flowering Shrubs
in Roanoke VA?
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Non-native chocolate mimosa in Levittown NY
August 09, 2010 - I purchased about 2 ft chocolate mimosa tree in early June of this year from a local nursery located in Nassau County, New York. It was doing in our Long Island soil just fine for over a month, I woul...
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Growing fruits and vegetables from Holbrook NY
April 06, 2012 - I have been looking for information on what plants, vegetables and fruits can be grown on Long Island NY to provide a sustainable food source for a community in the event of food becoming scarce. Wha...
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