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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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Questions From Near You

Paige/Bastrop, TX
Ground cover for burned acreage in Bastrop, Texas
The fire took 2/3 of the trees on my half acre in Bastrop County. It was mostly wild. What do I plant for ground cover? Do I plant native grass seed in fall? I want to keep it native as possible. ...
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Paige, TX
Grasses for shady acreage in Paige, TX
My family recently bought property in Paige, TX. We thinned out the dense vegetation leaving pines and some oak and juniper. The ground is now bare sand throughout much of the property, except for th...
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Paige, TX
Seeds for native Sandyland Bluebonnet
I live in Bastrop County Texas and would like to plant our native Sandyland Bluebonnet, Lupinus subcarnosus. I have checked most of the native plant supply firms, but can't find this species (except...
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Paige, TX
Interested in planting wildflowers in the area of Paige, TX.
Interested in planting wildflowers in the area of Paige, TX.
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McDade, TX
Bacterial spot in peach tree in McDade TX
I have a Red Globe peach tree which was planted in February 2008. The local agricultural extension agent identified the tree as having Bacterial Spot in November 2008. They recommended copper hydrox...
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McDade, TX
Plants referred to as Hummingbird plants
We have a a plant that is sometimes called a Hummingbird Plant, sometimes a Firecracker plant. I have also seen the name lonicera sempervirens. Are they poisonous? This is a plant, not a vine. T...
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Lincoln, TX
Brown spots on young redbuds in Lincoln TX
I have lined my driveway in Lee County Texas with Red bud trees purchased both in Dripping Springs and in College Station. The 14 trees are of varying ages and heights (planted during the fall and wi...
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Giddings, TX
Keeping cows from eating the garden
I have a flowerbed area outside of our new split-rail fence available for planting, but cattle roam outside the fence also! Do you have any suggestions for plants that cows tend not to eat (unle...
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Giddings, TX
Trees with white blossoms in Crockett, Texas
What are the trees that are blooming just East of Crockett Texas (off of Hwy 21) right now - fairly large trees - multitude of white blooms - almost like a wild plum or pear, but tree seems too large?...
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Bastrop , TX
Plants for Bastrop TX
I'm hoping you can help with this. Recently I have moved to Bastrop TX on what used to be Camp Swift military property. We have looked into planting grass and plants in the yard but discovered we hav...
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Bastrop, TX
Native sun plants for Bastrop TX
We live in the Bastrop area and have a 21 ft. by 15 ft. sunny area. We also need help with a list of native plants and want to start planting from tallest to short. Can you please advise?
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Bastrop, TX
Information about giant yellow and black wasps
Regarding a previous question submitted by a person asking about the giant yellow and black wasps..It's a Cicada Killer.I used to see them all the time when I was a kid in Victoria, Tx..But I haven'...
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Bastrop, TX
Pet-friendly plants for ground cover in Bastrop TX
Any pet-friendly plants that can be used for ground-cover in Central Texas?
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Bastrop, TX
Which one is huajillo and which one is guajillo?
Recently I attended a field trip to the Leonard Garden at the Kleberg Institute in Kingsville. I took a picture of a tree that was referred to as Tenaza or huajillo. Later I took another photo of a ...
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Bastrop, TX
Evergreen deer resistant shrub for Texas
I live in Bastrop TX and the deer have decimated the landscaping at the end of our sidewalk. I need to find compact, evergreen shrubs, (flowering would be a bonus), that will do well in shade and gro...
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Bastrop, TX
Grasses to stabilize creek bed in Bastrop County, Texas
Hello, we have property in Bastrop county, the soil is sandy loam with clay underneath. We need to stabilize a creek bed, can you suggest any particular grasses (seed) for this? Know it's not the be...
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Bastrop, TX
Collecting bluebonnet seeds
Greetings, My bluebonnets have bloomed nicely, and are showing a good crop of seed pods. I know that if I wait they will all open and spray the seeds everywhere, but I want to harvest some of the s...
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Bastrop, TX
Recreating a wildflower meadow, central Texas
We have an acre on our property that has bluebonnets. Unfortunately, it also has other plants that we don't want -Johnson grass, nettles, burrs. We plan to do a controlled burn in the fall and re-...
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Bastrop, TX
Indian Paintbrush outnumbering our Bluebonnets this year.
We noticed we have more Indian paintbrush than bluebonnets in our front yard this year. Our issue is we also have more spear grass than normal. Is there a way to control this grass without killing th...
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bastrop, TX
Need to identify hemp-like plant in Bastrop, TX.
What is the large stalky, hemp-like plant that populates our creek bottoms and ditches here in Central Texas? It has large 5-6 in. lobed leaves, and a fibrous central stalk that gets up to 7 ft tall. ...
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Bastrop, TX
Screen of Thuja Occidentalis on fire-damaged property in Bastrop TX
I want to plant a screen of Thuja Occidentalis on the east side of our driveway. It is in the burn area of Bastrop, TX. None of our trees survived. Will Thuja Occidentalis grow here? I saw some specim...
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