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

Not Yet Rated

Friday - July 30, 2010

From: Peoria, IL
Region: Midwest
Topic: Trees
Title: Tree for wet area in Central Illinois
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I live in Central Illinois. When it rains I get a lot of water in my backyard. What kind of tree would be best to plant in this wet area?

ANSWER:

Here is a way you can do the research yourself. Go to our Native Plant Database and do a COMBINATION SEARCH choosing 'Illinois' from the Select State or Province option, 'Tree' from Habit (general appearance) and 'Wet - soil is saturated with water' from Soil moisture. This will give you more than 40 trees to choose from that meet those criteria. You can check the other GROWING CONDITIONS for each species to determine if they are also compatible with your site.

Here are few possibilities from that list:

Betula populifolia (gray birch)

Carya aquatica (water hickory) and here are photos and more information.

Acer rubrum var. drummondii (Drummond's maple)

Crataegus viridis (green hawthorn)

Fraxinus pennsylvanica (green ash)

Ilex verticillata (common winterberry)

Nyssa aquatica (water tupelo)

Quercus nigra (water oak)

Quercus palustris (pin oak)

Here are photos from our Image Gallery: