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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

Lewisville, TX
Century Plant woes
My century plant was fine two weeks ago. Tonight I seen this. Not sure what is happening. It 9 years old. IMG_4716.JPG
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Lewisville, TX
Location of Indian Paintbrush in Lewisville, TX area
Know the location of any spots where Indian Paintbrushes grow in North Texas? I'm in Lewisville, about 10 miles north of Dallas.
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Lewisville, TX
Problems with Blackfoot Daisy from Lewisville, TX
I planted a row of Melampodium leucanthum (Blackfoot Daisy) last spring at the front of the front yard, next to the sidewalk. It's full sun, east facing, unamended black clay gumbo soil. I put mulc...
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Lewisville, TX
Identification of cucumber-like plant with red fruit
Hi; My name is Peter, live in Lewisville. When I walked through a park trail last year, I noticed a very strange vine described as the following: It is vine with leaves and stems (size and shape) lo...
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Lewisville, TX
How to grow Blue Cohosh in Lewisville TX
I bought Blue Cohosh seeds from an online website, but I do not know how or where to plant them and what will guarantee germination, and the instructions that came with the package are very vague. The...
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Lewisville, TX
Distance for Escarpment oak to house from Lewisville TX
I am planting an Escarpment Live Oak about 15' from my house. Thats as far away as I can plant it. Will this be a safe distance? How large will it be in 20 years?
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Flower Mound, TX
Brown circular ring in trimmed branches of redbud tree
I have a redbud tree that was recently trimed back. When looking at the cross section of the branches, I noticed a brown circular ring. Is this a problem and if so what can I do to correct it?
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Flower Mound, TX
Tall, narrow evergreen for front of house in Flower Mound, TX
Please recommend a tall, narrow evergreen to be placed at the front corner of my house.
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Flower Mound, TX
Exposed area on native elm in Texas
I have an elm tree starting to show signs of dying. It has an exposed area at the trunk of the tree turning white. When it rains there is a 6-inch strip (the width of the exposed area) running up th...
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Flower Mound, TX
Wisteria with root rot in Flower Mound, TX
I have a wisteria that is showing rot root from an exposed wound on the side of the base. Would like to save the tree. What can I do to fix the problem.
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Flower Mound, TX
Hedge plantings for Flower Mound, TX
Need to cover ~ 1000 linear feet with a thick hedge plant that will be ~ 8-15 ft tall, 8-12ft wide, fast growing, evergreen, drought resistant. Live in Flower Mound Tx. Researching on Red tip Photinia...
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Flower Mound, TX
Are These Plants Natives for Flower Mound, Texas?
We are having our flower beds reworked and these are the plants that the company is recommending to plant. I would like to know if these plants are native to our area:pink muhly grass, lythrum, lorope...
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Flower Mound, TX
Winter weeds in Flower Mound TX
My lawn is being overrun by winter weeds. How can I get rid of them? Should I wait until March when I put down weed and feed fertilizer?
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Flower Mound, TX
Plant ID in Flower Mound TX
I have a large native tree in the back yard, leaves resembles a live oak, but evergreen,& small white flowers in the spring, very tall vase shaped tree. It had no acorns or berries.
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Flower Mound, TX
Wildflower seeds for trail for Eagle Scout project
I'm a boy scout with Troop 1202 in the Dallas, Texas area, planning an eagle project to benefit my local parks department. The project will be to plant native wildflowers (from seed) along a trail. ...
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Flower Mound, TX
Native plants for full sun and low maintenance
I have volunteered to plant flowers/bushes around a sign at my church. I want to plant indigenous plants so the maintenance is low but I also want attractive plants. The soil is clay and the locatio...
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Flower Mound, TX
Eastern red cedar as tall privacy hedge for North Texas
I live in Northern Texas, outside of Dallas, and I need a very, very tall hedge to hide the view of the neighbors car lot from our second floor. We see everything beyond his fence and it drastically ...
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Highland Village, TX
Non-native pomegranate failing to fruit from Highland Village TX
Last spring I planted a pomegranate tree (type: Wonderful) which is supposed to produce edible fruit. It had 5 or 6 absolutely beautiful blooms, but each of them dropped off and no sign of fruit. Is...
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Highland Village, TX
Evergreen hedge for Dallas-Fort Worth area
Our red tip photina hedge is slowly succumbing to black spot and we'll need to replace it within the year. (Yes, I now understand red tips come in two varieties: diseased and about to become disease...
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Coppell, TX
Small Tree for Texas Garden
I would like to plant a small tree just 3-4 feet from my house, but I don't want to damage the foundation. Is there a small fruit or nut tree I could plant that would fit the bill? Failing that, is t...
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Coppell, TX
Native shrub for hedge in Dallas County, Texas
Looking for something to plant as hedge around yard for privacy. Prefer not to have to trim and like natural look, not over 8-9 ft. in full sun. Year round privacy for pool needed.
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