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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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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!

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Saturday - August 04, 2012

From: Hillsboro, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Invasive Plants, Non-Natives, Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Request for native grasses from Hillsboro TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

P.S. I forgot to mention one very important fact: my neighbor specifically asked for "native grass" recommendations. He thought he was getting a native grass recommendation.

ANSWER:

We assume you are referring to this previous question. Unfortuntely, not everyone understands "native" the way we do. And even some native plants are quite capable of being invasive. It really is the responsibility of the buyer to ascertain the important components of any plant being considered. Many people think (incorrectly) that if something is sold locally that it is native locally or at least will grow locally. We are so fortunate to have the resources of the Internet now, where you can find out about a plant BEFORE you buy and plant it. Getting recommendations is always good, but once you have a name, go to the Internet and search on it. While we freely admit that we do not have every plant native to North America in our Native Plant Database, you can bet that if a plant is in that database, it is native.
 

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