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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Wednesday - April 07, 2010

From: Eidson, TN
Region: Southeast
Topic: Trees
Title: Trees blooming white in East Tennessee in April
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

What kind of tree is blooming now, 4\6\10 in the mountains of east TN. They have white blooms?

ANSWER:

We went to our Native Plant Database and searched for trees that bloom white in April in Tennessee. We got 39 results. Since knowing whether or not any particular tree grows in Hawkins County, the northeastern tip of Tennessee, requires a pretty extensive search, and we are already inundated with gardening questions for Spring at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, we have some suggestions for how you can figure it out on your own: (1) Go to our Native Plant Database, and do a Combination Search, selecting Tennessee, then "tree" under General Appearance, white under Bloom Color, and April on Months of Bloom. When we did this, we got 39 possibilities. However, in order to determine if we have found the tree you are looking for, we have to go to the USDA Plant Profile on that plant and see if it grows in your part of the state, but you could try that first. (2) Contact the Tennessee Native Plant Society to see if they have a list of the trees blooming in April. (3) Check with the Hawkins County, TN Extension Office; they could probably tell you easily, they are a lot closer than we are, and (4) Go to our Mr. Smarty Plants Plant Identification site to Submit a Photo. Be sure to follow the instructions closely, and we will try to identify it. Of course, if it is an escaped non-native, we may not know, anyway.

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Wednesday - April 07, 2010

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