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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!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

Questions From Near You

Fairbanks, AK
Plant Identification
I live in Alaska and have TEENY cute 5 petaled white flowers growing on my lawn. They are very short, maybe 2 inches in height. The flower is about 1/2 inch wide. They look like a perfect tiny daisy. ...
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Fairbanks, AK
Recommendations for plants for Fairbanks, Alaska.
i have just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. i loved it. i'd like to start getting folks to grow their own foods, and raise as much livestock as possible, but i live...
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Anchorage, AK
Source of Datil Yucca for Anchorage, AK
Mr Smarty Plants, I want to buy a Datil Yucca Plant. I live in Anchorage Alaska. Can you tell me where I might be able to purchase one?
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Anchorage, AK
Screening plants for Alaska
Just purchased a house and want more privacy along the fence lines. Which plants would work well in the cold environment but provide privacy without taking over the yard.
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Anchorage, AK
Have invasive plants no useful purpose from Anchorage AK
Does the definition of invasive plants include that the plant has no useful purpose? Thanks.
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Kenai, AK
Invasive plant in pond in Kenai, AK
We built a pond in our back yard with materials from the beach. Including some plants. Didn't investigate the plants(our mistake). Well now it has taken over all of our landscape. It looks like ext...
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Houston, BC
Adapting to clay soils in British Columbia
What can I use to break down the clay content in my flower bed. It has a high concentration of clay and I want to plant treat it so I can plant flowers in it.
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Courtenay, BC
Cleaning up Adams Needle yucca in Vancouver Island BC
We have Adam's needle yucca's in our the flower bed of our newly purchased home here on Vancouver Island BC. They thrive and produce impressive flowers. How do I clean them up in the spring time ...
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Union Bay, BC
Trumpet vine care
I planted a trumpet vine in the early summer of this year. It grew about 3-4 ft. and seemed healthy. It is now Oct. 25th, and I just noticed that all the leaves seem to have shrivelled up and gone b...
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Tofino, BC
Distinguishing wax myrtle from Daphne laureola in Tofino BC
I am wondering how to distinguish California Wax Myrtle from Daphne Laurel, the latter which I would prefer to eradicate from my property. If it is wax myrtle, it gets to live..
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Westlock, AB
Survival of non-native rosemary on sea breeze from Alberta Canada
I read that Rosemary, in some locations, can live on nothing other than the humidity carried by the sea breeze. Is this true?
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Vancouver, BC
Problem with acanthus in Vancouver BC
My girlfriend's Mom just planted an Acanthus in her garden. In the morning, it apparently stands up tall, but in the evening it bends over until the the leaves are lying in the dirt. She's concerned...
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Vancouver, BC
Grouping plants according to water needs
Explain how appropriate design/grouping of plants of the same water needs would make irrigation scheduling easier?
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Vancover, BC
Propagation of skunk cabbage
Where can I purchase root stock for a start of skunk cabbage to plant? in my wetland?
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Vancouver, BC
How was salal (Gaultheria shallon) used by the troops in WWII?
We live in Vancouver BC. My mother says that during WW2 all the kids in her school were sent out to pick salal. They picked sacks of salal which were then sent to the troops. We are trying to find ...
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Vancouver, BC
Consequences of overwatering plants
Explain how an error on the high side when watering would affect soil fertility management, IPM efforts?
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Vancouver, BC
Replacing a Grass Lawn with Moss
I have a small north facing yard that I would like to change from grass to moss. There is some moss now but still lots of grass. I need to rake a lot of leaves in the fall but want to get away from a ...
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Stony Plain, AB
Starting yucca from pups in Alberta, Canada
What is the procedure to start a new plant from the Yucca "pups?" Heavy wet snow damaged much of my yucca plant the winter before last and last summer it produced 3 of these new little ones but the ...
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Burnaby, BC
Controlling Pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata) in British Columbia
Hello, I am emailing from the west coast of Canada, Vancouver, and I have a plant question regarding a species you have listed on your website. We have recently discovered Pontederia cordata L. Pi...
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Coquitlam, BC
Advice on planting Korean dogwood (Cornus kousa) in Vancouver, BC
I live in the Vancouver, BC - Pacific Northwest area and the front of our yard faces south to southwest. If I were to plant a tree other than an evergreen, would the Korean Dogwood thrive in this are...
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Surrey, BC
Pacific dogwood not fruiting
We have a beautiful Pacific Dogwood in front of our balcony. In some years it has fruit (berries) but has not for the past two years. When it does, it becomes a magnet for Northern Flickers. Is the pr...
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