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
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Monday - September 07, 2009
From: Albuquerque, NM
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Non-native pomegranate in Albuquerque
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I don't know if they are now considered native or not but I am interested in planting Principia or Pomegranates in Albuquerque, windy and a mile high. Do I have a chance?ANSWER:
We're sorry, we could find no reference to a plant named "Principia", either in our Native Plant Database nor by Googling. We can tell you the Punica granatum (pomegranate) is native to the Middle East, the Caucasus and Pakistan. Since the expertise of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is limited to plants native not only to North America but to the area in which they are being grown, we can't give you much help. We did find this article by Julia F. Morton from Purdue University Horticulture Pomegranate. That article should help you with cold tolerance and suitable soils, and we can tell you from personal observation that the plant does not withstand wind very well. This USDA Plant Profile does not show pomegranate growing in New Mexico at all.More Non-Natives Questions
Non-native Empress trees in Beaumont TX
September 26, 2009 - I want to grow some Empress Trees in our yard. We have a huge yard and it is right on the corner of a cross street where they have just put a traffic light. People stopped at the light can see into ...
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Could lilacs grow in Georgia?
April 27, 2010 - Hi Mr Smarty Pants,
First off, I want to commend you on your promotion of native plants. I am passionately anti-invasive plants (in fact, it was the subject of my master's thesis). That being said...
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Shrubs and trees over septic tank in Killen AL
May 20, 2013 - Our church has 5year old blue rug juniper, a crape myrtle and two shrubs I can't identify planted over the septic tank which is surrounded with concrete and asphalt. I am afraid these will cause a pr...
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How to Deal with Leggy Artemisia 'Silver Mound'
October 03, 2015 - I have two Artemisia (I think 'Silver Mound') in full sun in West Austin. They have been happily growing there for the past 10 or so years. Both were hard-hit by last winter's cold weather and did...
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Division of impatiens grown in a pot
December 08, 2007 - I have an impatient and it is growing out of the pot. I was wondering if it were possible to divide it somehow and have two medium size plants.
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