Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ah, once again the curse of the common name. When we searched for "frostweed" in our Native Plant Database, we found 5 plants with that as one of their common names, all native to Texas. Four of them are in the genus Helianthemum and one in the genus Verbesina. Helianthemum carolinianum (Carolina frostweed), Helianthemum georgianum (Georgia frostweed), Helianthemum rosmarinifolium (Rosemary frostweed) and Verbesina virginica (Frostweed) all are shown on USDA Plant Profile Maps as being native in or near Nueces and San Patricio Counties. Helianthemum glomeratum (Clustered frostweed) is shown as native only to Brewster County in the Big Bend area of West Texas, so we will eliminate that one from consideration.

If you follow the link to our webpage on Verbesina virginica (Frostweed), scroll down that page to "Find Seed or Plants" you will find this sentence: " Order seed of this species from Native American Seed and help support the Wildflower Center." Click on Order seed  and you will get the online order page for seeds of that plant available from Native American Seed. None of the other species with the same common name had such a source reference.

Since we have no idea which of the five plants we have listed is the one you want, we suggest you go to our National Suppliers Directory, put your town and state or just your zipcode in the "Enter Search Location" box, click on GO and you will get a list of native plant nurseries, seed companies and consultants in your general area. All have contact information so you can check on availability before you begin shopping.

Follow this link to an entire page of pictures from our Image Gallery of Verbesina virginica (Frostweed). That was the most extensive set of images of any of the plants listed above, two of which we had no pictures at all.