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?
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Friday - June 07, 2013
From: Nashville, TN
Region: Southeast
Topic: Non-Natives, Shrubs
Title: Difference beteen two non-native photinias from Nashville TN
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
What is the difference between red tip phontinias and fireball phontinias. I read that fireballs are also called red tips but I thought that red tips grow to like 12 ft. and the tag on the fireball I just bought says it grows to 3-4 ft.? I want the variety that grows to 12 ft.ANSWER:
Please read this previous Mr. Smarty Plants answer. Then, please consider using plants native to the Davidson County area, in the north central part of Tennessee. We will go to our Native Plant Database and, scrolling down the page to use the Combination Search, designate Tennessee for State, "shrub" for habit and 6 ft. to 12 ft. for Height. Since we don't know how much sunlight the area you want to plant has nor your Soil Moisture, we will have to leave those blank, but you could do your own search putting in whatever requirements you have. We will give you a sample list, first checking to make sure each shrub we choose is, indeed, native to your area.
Shrubs for Tennessee:
Amorpha fruticosa (Indigo bush)
Calycanthus floridus (Eastern sweetshrub)
Corylus americana (American hazelnut)
Lindera benzoin (Northern spicebush)
Philadelphus inodorus (Scentless mock orange)
Physocarpus opulifolius (Atlantic ninebark)
Rhus aromatica (Fragrant sumac)
Rhododendron canescens (Mountain azalea)
Viburnum acerifolium (Mapleleaf viburnum)
You can follow each plant link to our webpage on that shrub to find out its growing conditions, moisture and soil needs and bloom time. If you have difficulty locating thse native plants in local nurseries, go to our National Suppliers Directory, put your town and state or just your zipcode in the "Enter Search Location Box and click on GO. This will give you a list of native plant nurseries, seed suppliers and consultants in your general area. All have contact information so you can check for availability before you go shopping.
From the Image Gallery
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August 07, 2013 - I have a mophead hydrangea that has small white cottony tufts under the leaves and on the stems. I believe this is maple scale. Is there a home remedy I can use to rid this disease?
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April 18, 2010 - I have several large Sago Palms that have partial frost damage, they are part green and part brown fronds. Should I remove the brown leaves? the center of the leaf is green.
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June 22, 2007 - What are the plants native to South Florida and the Caribbean?
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Can non-native red-tip photinia be burned in fireplace from Lilburn GA?
April 20, 2011 - Can I burn red tip photinia in my fireplace?
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Replacement for non-native Sago palms in Austin
November 28, 2010 - We have two pillars, one on each side of our front door. There is a sago palm in front of each pillar. It is a dramatic and beautiful look, but the palms, facing north and in shade, are growing so tha...
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