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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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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Wednesday - September 18, 2013

From: Emory, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Lists
Title: Native Plants for Emory Texas
Answered by: Brigid & Larry Larson

QUESTION:

I live in Emory Texas want to plant native plants in my yard. I am new to Texas and need help.

ANSWER:

Welcome to Texas – Y’all should come down to the Wildflower Center, just south of Austin, and we’ll show you a good time! More seriously, the Wildflower Center has resources both onsite and online that can help you develop a lovely native yard.

For on-line resources, useful to select plants for your yard, you can pull up a list of Recommended Native Plants from the link with that name. Appropriate for Rains County would be either the North Central Texas Recommended Species List -or the Post Oak & Savannah Ecoregion List.

On each of these lists – you can select from the General Appearance of the plant [Trees, Shrubs, Vines, etc.], their Light Requirement, Soil Moisture, Height and several other attributes to help you find a few useful natives that will help you build a plan for the yard.

While you’re at it – The website also has a good selection of “How To” articles [My eyes fell on the Gardening Timeline, that might be of aid in coping with Texas Weather] and Step-by-step guides.

And – of course – feel free to ask Mr Smarty Plants your more detailed questions once they emerge!

[Heres a selection of native Wildflowers and plants you should be able to see in your neighborhood!]