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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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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

Akron, OH
Will Bittersweet climb on a streetlight pole?
Will Bittersweet climb on a streetlight pole, or does it need to be with a tree?
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Akron, OH
Transplanting a non-native rose from Akron OH
Can I transplant a rose plant that I have in sunny area to an area that will be partially shady?
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Akron, OH
Alternative names for Aquilegia Sanguinaria
I am looking for the common name for a flower called Aquilegia Sanguinaria. Can you help? Does this even exist?
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Akron, OH
Identity of plant at funeral that smells similar to honeysuckle
What plant or flower smells similar to honeysuckle? I live in Ohio and I smelled some kind of flower or plant at a friends funeral last spring that smelled similar to honeysuckle. It was...
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Tallmadge, OH
Flowering plants for shade in Ohio
I am trying to find flowering plants I can grow in my perennial shade garden. So far I am having a difficult time except for hostas, nettle and myrtle. I need help to get my miniature lilac to blo...
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Tallmadge, OH
Planting a pair of Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides for fruiting
I'd like to plant a pair of witherod viburnums to improve their fruiting. Can I get the cross-pollination with a v. cassanoides together with a v. nudum? How close together do they need to be? (Ca...
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Munroe Falls, OH
A tap-rooted tree for Munroe Falls, OH?
Hello.. We need to find a fast growing shade tree which has a tap root or a heart root system. No surface roots please. We live in Munroe Falls, Ohio which I believe is Zone 5. Let us know your though...
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Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Website with map showing occurence of species
Hello and thank you so much for this amazing site and all the information you provide. Recently after reading about some really neat species on here I ended up surfing the net for pictures and somehow...
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Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Plant identification
Large leaf plant over 5 feet tall red stems and purple almost black flat berries in large clumps. Any idea?
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Kent, OH
Plant identification of tree on Kent State University in Ohio
Hello. I am fond of a very large (wide) tree on a university campus in Ohio. I have tried many plant ID search engines to try to figure out what it is. It is at least 12 feet tall and at least that ...
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Hudson, OH
Poisonous plant in Ohio with hydrangea-like flower
Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I was sure that I had read that there is a poisonous bush that is native to Ohio that has flowers something like a white hydrangea..or was it queen ann's lace? I believe the ...
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Hudson, OH
Plants for a sunny sloped roadside in Ohio
I am looking for a solution to a slope that cannot be easily mowed. Our yard is flat until you get about 15 feet from the road at which point it angles up to a small 5 foot area next to the road. I ...
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Canal Fulton, OH
Non-blooming of an apparent yucca in Ohio
I have what looks like a yucca plant in my flower bed. but in the 3 years we have lived here it has never bloomed. It did get a little bigger and has always been green. If it is a yucca, is there any ...
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Medina, OH
Browning of Red Western cedars in Medina, OH
I have a row of Red Western Cedars bordering my yard. One week after my lawn people but down spring fertilizer and grub control, they began turning brown. Is there any correlation? If not, what cau...
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Medina, OH
Hybrid Campsis radicans 'Madame Rosy' from Medina OH
I have a Madame Rosy Campsis that is not blooming. We purchased and planted it last year, mid-summer and it did well for the remainder of the season but this year...nothing but green leaves........wh...
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Medina, OH
Propagating American Beautyberry in Medina OH
I brought home a small branch of American beautyberries when I was vacationing in N. Carolina. How do I go about planting them and will they survive in the Cleveland area?
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medina, OH
Identity of a plant in Ohio
Trying to identify a tree/shrub in Ohio. It grows from 6-8', and blooms through the summer. It has small green glossy leaves, and bell/trumpet shaped flowers in pink, white, or yellow with stripes. T...
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Parma, OH
Eradication of invasive thistles in Parma OH
Lawn is full of prickly weeds with very deep roots. May be called Scotch Thistle, although id is not confirmed. They will grow as tall as they can amid other plants, and when mowed in the lawn, they...
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Parma Hts, OH
Seedlings from established plants in Parma Hts., OH
I have 20 yr old shrubs and hedges along my back yard. I don't know their variety. How do I keep the seedlings from encroaching in my lawn? The seedlings have sprouted 3 feet into the lawn. Any ide...
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Diamond, OH
Low ground cover for steep bank in Ohio
We have a 3/4 acre pond that has several places along the bank too steep to mow. We would like to plant some type of ground cover in those areas that would keep the weeds out. The planting would need ...
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Shaker Heights, OH
Food value of cultivars of eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
Can you suggest any resources regarding the wildlife value of native plant cultivars? For example, I can only buy an eastern red Cedar cultivar in my region: "Burkii" or "Emerald Sentinel". I w...
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