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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers Nan Hampton, Jimmy Mills and Barbara Medford to be the culpable and capable parties. Yet, others think staff members Damon Waitt, Joe Marcus and Philip Hawkins might 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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Questions From Near You

Westminster, CO
Sagebrush for Westminster CO
On a recent visit to Taos, NM we fell in love with the local sagebrush. We would like to plant this sagebrush in our yard. We are located near Denver Colorado. Would this plant survive and how do we g...
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Westminster, CO
Columnar evergreen for Colorado
I am looking for an evergreen 6-8 (or more) feet tall, very columnar; 3 feet spread in diameter, zone 5, full sun, dark green, clayish-OK soil. Thank you so much!
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Thornton, CO
Ground cover for Thornton CO
I want to order ground cover because I don't want to mess with grass any more. I live in Colorado, north of Denver. The soil has a lot of clay. I tried clover and that did not do well. My yard is par...
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Northglenn, CO
Native wildflowers for Denver, Colorado area
I live in the Denver, CO area and would like to plant more native wildflowers. Can you please tell me where I can find a list?
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Broomfield, CO
Removal of Western yarrow invading lawn
We have western yarrow in our yard and it is starting to take over and kill the grass. How do we get rid of it?
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Broomfield, CO
Planting conditions for non-native Oriental poppy in Colorado
I live in Broomfield, CO. Is this a good time to plant oriental poppies, what is the best sun exposure and how should I prepare the soil?
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Arvada, CO
Viability of Cupressus macrocarpa in Arvada, Colorado
Can I plant lemon cypress in Arvada CO, zone 5, as landscaping plant? Can't find zone information.
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Arvada, CO
Removing non-native juniperus x pfitzeriana in Arvada CO
We have 200' of large juniper pfitzers (3' tall - 4' wide) that completely enclose our front yard. We want to remove all of them but the estimates to dispose of them have been extremely high. One...
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Denver, CO
Inquiry about the Arizona Cypress trees in the Family Garden
Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I recently visited The Wildflower Center and enjoyed seeing several features that were new since my last visit two years ago. In the Family Garden areas I saw several beautifu...
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Denver, CO
Austrian pine in landscape in Denver CO?
I'm relandscaping my yard and want to use all or mostly native plants, as I want to create a wildlife. My landscape designer has indicated she wants me to use Austrian Pine in as a specimen tree in t...
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Denver, CO
Planting time for California poppies in Colorado
I live in Colorado and planted California Poppies in my front yard at the end of April. I read that I probably should have planted them in the fall. There have sprouted a little but they don't seem t...
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Denver, CO
Failure to thrive of non-native Lamium maculatum
Hello: Approximately 3 to 4 years ago I planted approximately 20 Lamium Beacon Silver plants in a shaded area of my yard, with limited sun. The first year they seemed very hearty and expanded. I ce...
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Denver, CO
Geographic determination of flower colors
Hi Mr. Smarty Plants, I'd like to find out if there are any correlation between geographic location and the statistic of flower(native) colors. Here in the Rockies, there seems to be a lot more ye...
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Denver, CO
Hand pollinating watermelon grown indoors in Denver
Hi! I'm growing watermelon indoors and I was wondering if I had to self pollinate it? Their flowers just started blooming! If so, how do I go about doing this? Thank you so much!
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Denver, CO
Greenhouse bluebonnets for July wedding from Denver CO
Would it possible for my daughter's florist to get bluebonnets for her late July wedding? Are they propagated in greenhouses?
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Denver, CO
Problems with maple in Denver
I live in Denver, CO and planted an Autumn Blaze maple three years ago. It has done very well until about a week ago. The leaves are drying out and falling off and earlier today I noticed some bugs ...
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Denver, CO
Is arborvitate (Thuja sp.) safe for horses
Is arborvitae poisonous to horses? I want to plant it along the horse pasture. If it is poisonous, what are similar plants that are not poisonous to horses?
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Denver, CO
Century plant offshoots in Denver
Each year I get a small "baby" Century Plants in the early winter..December - January, But it dies off before summer. We live in Denver, CO My main plant is doing fine. Also, should I cut the lo...
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Denver, CO
Asters bloom period
When do the asters bloom?
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Denver, CO
Taking stock in where and what you grow in Denver Colorado
I have two year old stock plants growing in a container in my home and they are finally starting to bloom. However, the buds open but don't produce any petals. Also they are experiencing yellow leave...
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denver, CO
Non-native, care for Jade plant.
I've had a jade plant for 5 years and it has done well, even though it was in a plastic pot with regular soil. I need to repot it and it was recommended I use a clay pot and a soil made for succulen...
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