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 - September 30, 2011
From: Weedville, PA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Herbs/Forbs, Wildflowers
Title: Early spring wildflowers of Pennsylvania
Answered by: Guy Thompson
QUESTION:
What native wildflower is the first to bloom in Weedville, Pa? (Jay township, Elk county) I am working on a research paper for my Environmental Problems class, and this would be very helpful. Thank you.ANSWER:
This question was recently answered for another Pennsylvania enquirer. The answer is reproduced below.
Below is a list of early spring wildflowers found in western Pennsylvania. The two earliest would be those blooming in February:
Erigenia bulbosa (harbinger of spring) and Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
The remainder of the flowers on the list begin blooming in March. I don't know that I could put them in "spring appearance" order, since there can be variation from one microclimate to another, but I do think I could put Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) near the beginning of the list.
Erythronium americanum (dogtooth violet)
Epigaea repens (trailing arbutus)
Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot)
Ranunculus fascicularis (early buttercup)
Stylophorum diphyllum (celandine poppy)
Cardamine douglassii (limestone bittercress)
Hepatica nobilis var. acuta (sharplobe hepatica)
Thalictrum thalictroides (rue anemone)
Saxifraga virginiensis (early saxifrage)
Claytonia virginica (Virginia springbeauty)
Claytonia caroliniana (Carolina springbeauty)
Viola sororia (common blue violet)
Draba verna (Whitlow grass or spring draba)
You can find more native plants of Pennsylvania by doing a "Combination Search" in our Native Plant Database and you can "Narrow Your Search" by using various Characters (e.g., Habit (general appearance), Light requirement, etc.).
Visit the Western Pennsylvania Wildflowers page to find more photos of the above plants (search alphabetically by common name) as well as many more plants, both native and non-native, found in western Pennsylvania.
From the Image Gallery
More Herbs/Forbs Questions
Low-maintenance native plants for Arizona
March 12, 2009 - Will you please suggest some Native plants that can be left without care for the summer and survive - other than cactus?
view the full question and answer
Ducks and geese resistant plants for a pond in PA.
July 08, 2013 - We have a pond in all shade and we have ducks and geese. We would like to plant something in the space between the walkway and the pond to add color, but they have eaten everything we've tried- fern...
view the full question and answer
Difficulty with Clay Soil from Palm Bay, FL
August 22, 2012 - I had a very nice little native shady area behind my house for over 40 years, but now it has been cleared except for a 100 foot tall live oak in the center of this raised mound (50' x 80'). I've be...
view the full question and answer
Ground covers for a shady spot in central Texas
February 23, 2016 - I reside in Austin, Texas and need advice on my xeriscaping project. Portions of my front yard have always been a challenge to get grass to grow, so I have xeriscaped that area with Fairland Pink gran...
view the full question and answer
Wide appearance of Texas Bluebells in Hillsboro TX
July 07, 2011 - I thought Texas Bluebells were rare, endangered and liked wet places. So why, after at least a dozen years of not seeing any and during this horrible drought am I seeing them where I have never seen t...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |