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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

Bedford, TX
Wildflowers for sunny garden in Bedford TX
I live in North Central Texas around Bedford. I have clay soil which I have been building with soil to enrich the soil foundation. I need a wildflower garden that receives at least 6 hours of su...
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Hurst, TX
Need Advice on Rescuing Winecups in Hurst, Texas
My grandmother's back yard used to be filled with the wild wine cup flowers, but they disappeared for years, due to (I think) flooding caused by runoff from housing development. Last spring I noticed...
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Hurst, TX
Blueberries and non-native squash in Fort Worth
Blueberries in North Central Texas-Fort Worth In sun or shade? Got only male blossoms on my squash last year why?
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Hurst, TX
Lily of the Valley growing in Red River County, TX
Mr. SP, I just returned from Red River County, TX where I observed Lily of the Valley growing in a very old cemetery. Is this unusual for this area of the country?
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Hurst, TX
Replacing Weeds with Native Plants in Dallas Area
I have a large oak tree in my front yard and lots and lots of miscellaneous weeds (clover, chickweed, stickers, etc.). I am wanting to grow grass in my front yard, that is shaded pretty much most of t...
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Hurst, TX
Grass for sunny Texas lawn
We lost our front yard(bermuda) last summer/fall due to grubs(we think). When and what type of grass seed do we do this spring to plant a new yard? We can't afford to lay sod. It's mostly sunny. We ...
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Colleyville, TX
Environmental factors that affect lifecycle stages of maidenhair fern.
What are the environmental factors that can affect the lifecycle stages of a maidenhair fern, particularly A. trichorleopis? Thank you
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Colleyville, TX
Planting Purple Threeawn (Aristida purpurea) and Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
Do you have information on planting Purple Threeawn and Little Bluestem? Also are there any inherent problems when planting…things to avoid, etc. Wanting to plant as ornamentals in the North Texas D...
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Colleyville, TX
Native plants for screen in Colleyville TX
My soil is pure sand that goes down as far as I can dig. I am needing native plants to use as a screen, that grow to be 6-10 ft. tall. Also, since my plantings dry out so quickly, would it be helpfu...
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Colleyville, TX
Oak sprouts in flower bed in Colleyville TX
We have a raised flower bed in our back yard that includes 2 live oak trees. We have a TON of shoots that keep popping up and make our bed look very untidy. My husband doesn't think the shoots are ...
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Euless, TX
Cherry Laurel for North Central Texas
I want a small evergreen tree (approx 20'x 15')and would like to plant a Cherry Laurel. Would this be a good choice in North Central Texas (DFW area)? If not, any suggestions? Thank You.
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Euless, TX
Identification of vine with red flowers, fern-like leaves
Last year I saw a plant at the State Fair. It had small fern like leaves to it with beautiful little red flowers. It was a vine plant of some sort. They told me that it was native to the Hill Countr...
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Euless, TX
Wax myrtle for screening in Euless, TX
We live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We need something to use as a screen along our back fence, to block the view of our neighbor's storage building. We are looking for a tall shrub that we can s...
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Euless, TX
Determining male/female wax myrtles
We are planning to use Wax Myrtle as a screen plant, and want to be sure that we are successful in having berries for the birds. We have read that berries are only on the female plants. When we aske...
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Euless, TX
Why do my Possumhaw Holly berries fall of in the summer in Euless, TX?
My possumhaw holly has LOTS of green berries in the spring but they fall off in summer, so that I have only a handful of red berries in the winter. What is going wrong?
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Euless, TX
Mosquito repelling plants from Euless TX
Are there any shade loving plants that repel mosquitoes for North Central Texas? I checked your site and saw nothing on this topic.
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Euless, TX
Allergy-causing plant in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex area
Do you know what is growing (or floating in the air) in the DFW metroplex now, but not growing or floating the rest of the year? I have a 3 year old that has gotten extremely itchy this time of the ...
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Euless, TX
Yaupons not showing berries in Euless, TX
From all I have read, Possumhaw holly is supposed to have berries only on the female. However I have been told and read conflicting things about whether you must have both a male & female in order f...
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Euless , TX
Plant identification
I don't know if they are native or not, My mom bought some plants at an event at the Dallas Convention Center that all had rocks and little dirt that they sat on. The bases of the plants were large a...
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N. Richland Hills, TX
Small drought-resistant shrub for northeast Texas
I am replacing the formal hedge of hollies along the front of my house and was planning to use mostly Inidan Hawthornes, but now I'm reading that they are very prone to disease, are there any low gro...
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North Richland Hills, TX
Shrubs, groundcovers, and grasses for shade in North Central Texas
Updated (2009-10) information about shrubs / ground cover /grasses recommended for North Central Texas - Complete back yard re-landscaping under a lot of trees, shady areas, regular bermuda, St Augus...
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