QUESTION: My yard appears to be a good spot for wild rice. Could it be used as a landscape element and food for wildlife, yet still yield a few grains for the Thanksgiving table?

ANSWER: I hope you just forgot to mention the requisite lake or pond. True wild rice (Zizania palustris, or Zizania aquatica) grows only in shallow, slow-moving fresh water. Farmers raise domestic varieties in artificially flooded paddies, but that is not practical for home gardeners.

An especially damp marsh might do - wild rice will grow in water that is only about a foot deep. But 2 or 3 feet is better, because stems can be weak in shallower water.

The plants are handsome landscape accents, growing 8 to 10 feet tall, with long, narrow leaves, greenish flowers and large seed heads. The seeds ripen at different times and then "shatter," flying off the plant. These traits allow the plant to reseed, but combined with the depredations of wildlife, also mean that a few grains is about all you will get.

Wild rice plants and seeds (with growing instructions) are sold by Wildlife Nurseries, 920-231-3780. Plants are also available from Tripple Brook Farm, 413-527-4626 or www.tripplebrookfarm.com.

Address questions to Garden Q& A, The New York Times, 229 W. 43rd St., New York, NY 10036, or by e-mail to gardening@nytimes.com. Those of general interest will be published.

By N.Y. Times Service