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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Sunday - April 15, 2012
From: Sunbury, PA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Herbs/Forbs
Title: Flowers for September wedding in Sunbury PA
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I am trying to grow my own flowers for a wedding in September. Can you please advise as to what i can grow to bloom? i live in northeast Pennsylvania. Wedding is in D.C.ANSWER:
We are going to have to institute a Wedding Planner Department for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, home of Mr. Smarty Plants. Please read these recent Mr. Smarty Plants answers to help you get an idea of what is involved:
Flowers for September wedding in Pennsylvania
Now, here's the thing. You will notice in all our answers (and there are a total of 40 on this subject in our Answered Questions) discuss the length of time you must plant flowers in advance in order to have them blooming on the wedding day. It is usually at least 6 months in advance and, in the case of perennials, a year and a half. Go to the answer for Pennsylvania, and click on each plant link to find out when the plant should be planted and how, and you will soon realize that you would have had to plant them at least a year and a half ago. As an example of what you will find out when you read our webpage on each plant:
Achillea millefolium (Common yarrow) - blooms April to September, perennial, seeds mature (and are ready to plant) in early Fall.
Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue mistflower) - blooms July to November, perennial, propagate by root division or sow seeds in late Fall.
Lobelia siphilitica (Great blue lobelia) - perennial, blooms July to October, divide clumps in Spring, seeds are mature to sow in mid September to October.
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