Native Plants
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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 is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Wednesday - May 20, 2009
From: San Antonio, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shade Tolerant
Title: What are the best deep shade plants for San Antonio?
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
What are the best deep shade plants for San Antonio?ANSWER:
Since you didn't mention what kind of plants you have in mind, we'll take you to our website and let you make some choices. If you go to our Recommended Species page and select Central Texas on the map, you will get a list of 155 commercially available native plant species suitable for planned landscapes in Texas. Go to "Narrow Your Search" in the right hand panel where you can become more selective.
You see that you have several parameters along with "deep shade" from which to choose. Initially, lets choose TX for the state, Herb under "Habit", Perennial under "Duration", Shade (2 hours or less of sun per day) under"Light requirement", the appropriate moisture for your site under "Soil moisture" (I chose moist), and the appropriate bloom characteristics (you can leave that blank for now). Click the "Narrow your search" button and you will get a list of 3 plants that meet these criteria. Clicking on each plant name will bring up its NPIN page that describes the plant's characteristics.
You can modify your listing by changing the choices in each box for the types of plants that you have in mind.
Once you have found some plant names, go to our Suppliers Directory to locate businesses in Central Texas that have these plants for sale.
More Shade Tolerant Questions
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May 13, 2010 - I would like a list of fast growing shade trees that are safe for cows and horses in a pasture.
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September 18, 2008 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants,
I'd like to hang 4"-6" pots with flowering plants from north-facing eaves. That area gets an hour or so of late-morning/noon sun. Also, my apt. faces a large courtyard so...
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May 29, 2011 - Here in Oklahoma City we have a flower bed west of our house, shaded all day by the house next door except for 2-3 hours of direct sun from the west. I have struggled with what bushes to plant there....
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Container plants for shade in Austin
March 15, 2011 - I reside in 78739. Just moving here from So Cal (where all plants are perennials), I'm looking to create a good "Shade loving" Container for near my front door. I'm looking at 'Summer Wave' Wi...
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