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.
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.
rate this answer
Friday - July 02, 2010
From: Bastrop, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shade Tolerant, Herbs/Forbs, Wildflowers
Title: Flowering plants for shady garden in Bastrop
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
We live in Bastrop, 8 miles west of the Historical district. We have a small flower garden in a shady spot around 25 feet from the back patio of our home. We'd like to find out what native plants, flowering and perennial could we plant in this garden. We use only organic preparations on the plants. Thanks for your help!ANSWER:
Please visit our Texas-Central Recommended page where you will find a list of commercially available native plants suitable for landscaping in Central Texas. You can use the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option in the sidebar to select any criteria you would like. For instance, you could choose 'Herb' from the GENERAL APPEARANCE area, 'Perennial' under LIFESPAN and 'Shade - 2 hrs or less' under LIGHT REQUIREMENT. If your flowerbed receives more than 2 hours of sun per day, you can look for plants that grow in part shade. You could also change the LIFESPAN to 'All durations' and choose 'Shrub', 'Grass/grasslike' etc. Here are a few suggestions from the list and you can look for more:
Aquilegia canadensis (red columbine)
Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf tickseed)
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed)
Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida (Dakota mock vervain)
Wedelia texana (hairy wedelia)
Calylophus berlandieri ssp. pinifolius (Berlandier's sundrops)
Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii (wax mallow)
Nolina texana (Texas sacahuista)
Here are photos from our Image Gallery:
More Herbs/Forbs Questions
Evergreen perennials for a pond bank in Texas
June 18, 2015 - We want evergreen perennial plants for the banks of our small pond. The banks are eroding and we need to help keep them strong. We have ducks in the pond and lots of turtles. We would love something ...
view the full question and answer
Optimal time for trimming Fall asters
July 04, 2014 - RE: fall asters
What is the latest date in the summer that I can trim my fall asters and still get a good amount of blooms in October?
view the full question and answer
February 17, 2015 - This question may have more to do with chemistry than botany but I thought I would start here. My sister recently discovered that behind her Chili pequin plants, the brick was being dissolved leaving ...
view the full question and answer
Correction of tree name from Bay Point CA
October 16, 2013 - The tree should of been Mulberry don't know how it was changed!!
Tuesday - October 15, 2013
From: Bay Point, CA
Region: California
Topic: Non-Natives, Cacti and Succulents, Trees
Title: Non-...
view the full question and answer
Heirloom plants for Gault Homestead in Austin
April 15, 2009 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants,
The Gault Homestead at 2106 Klattenhoff in the middle of Wells Branch Subdivision is to be planted with heirloom or heritage plants soon. There is some sun for the planter bo...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |