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

1 rating

Sunday - February 10, 2013

From: Garden Ridge, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Privacy Screening, Shrubs
Title: Need a privacy screen of native plants for swimming pool in Garden Ridge, TX
Answered by: Jimmy Mills

QUESTION:

We are building a pool and would like to use native plants as a screen around the fence, preferably a shrub that grows quickly to about 6 feet. Any suggestions? Thanks.

ANSWER:

It seems like the two most frequent questions that Mr. Smarty Plants receives are:
When are the bluebonnets going to bloom?
Can you suggest plants for a privacy screen?

We applaud your intention to use native plants for your screen! I am going to refer you to a previous question about privacy screens that we answered just last month. It has links to other previously answered question about privacy screens, so in a sense, we are exposing you to the “wisdom of Mr. Smarty Plants”.