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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Saturday - July 28, 2012
From: Southwick, MA
Region: Northeast
Topic: Managing Roadsides, Plant Identification
Title: Identification of blue wildflower on roadsides in Massachusetts
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
What is the blue wildflower planted on roadsides and highways in Massachusetts?ANSWER:
Since I'm a long way from Massachusetts (in Austin, TX), I'm at a bit of a disadvantage in naming the blue flowers along Massachusetts' roadways, but I have several suggestions:
- You can do a COMBINATION SEARCH in our Native Plant Database by choosing "Massachusetts" from Select State or Province, "Herb" from Habit (general appearance), "July" from Bloom Time and "Blue" from Bloom Color. You can then look through the thumbnail photos on the list.
- You could also browse the flowers by color on the Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut Wildflowers database.
- You could contact someone at New England Wild Flower Society in Framingham, MA. They are very likely to know.
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