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 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 - April 20, 2011

From: Van, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Seeds and Seeding, Wildflowers
Title: Need information about broadcasting wildflower seeds in a pasture 70 miles east of Dallas, TX.
Answered by: Jimmy Mills

QUESTION:

We recently moved to upper east TX - 70 miles East of Dallas. I would like to broadcast wildflowers in our pasture. I'm assuming I'll need to wait until next fall, but not sure about that. Can you tell me what will grow well in this fairly sandy and somewhat acidic soil? Thank you

ANSWER:

Mr. Smarty Plants has two resources that you can use to help with this project.

The first is our "How to Articles" page where we have information about many gardening topics.

I'd like to call you attention to three articles; Getting Started, Recreating a Prairie, and Meadow Gardening. All of these should be very helpful in carrying out your project.

Another good source of information is the Dallas Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT).

For plant selection, go to our Recommended Species List and click on East Texas. This will bring up a list of 133 commercially available native plant species suitable for planned landscapes in East Texas.You can use the Narrow Your Search feature on the right of the page to trim your list to the types of plants you prefer, eg Herbs, Shrubs , etc. Visit our Suppliers Directory to locate businesses that sell native plants or seeds or provide professional landscape or consulting services in our area.

Native Plants

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Wednesday - April 20, 2011

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