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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

Hebron, NE
Penstemon digitalis not blooming in Hebron, NE.
My Beardtongue plants are too close together. Can I transplant my Penstemon digitalis now, even though the plant is approx. 20" tall? It is not blooming.
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Hedron, NE
Newly planted magnolia in Hedron NE
We planted a Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star' in our landscape about 2 weeks ago. It is approx 7' tall. My question is should the leaves on it all be turning brown and crisp already or are doing some...
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Beatrice, NE
Where to buy a non-native globe willow from Beatrice NE
Where can one buy a globe willow tree?
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Lincoln, NE
Sources of Rosa acicularis for research
I am a professor at the University of Nebraska and would like to obtain some Rosa acicularis plants to do research with. Can you tell me how to purchase them. Thanks.
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Lincoln, NE
Non-invasive plants for hummingbird and butterfly garden
Hello :) I've been building a huge Hummingbird and Butterfly garden. Up until now I've only had the Milkweeds and Dill for host plants for the Monarch and Black Swallowtail Butterflies. I'd love t...
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Lincoln, NE
Scale on non-native Loropetalum in Lincoln, NE
Hi,I have found lots of scale insects on my Loropetalum (esp the young leaves) and ended up spraying some white oil to get rid of them. Unfortunately, I might have overdone it and the young shoots are...
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Lincoln, NE
Identification of Sagittaria-like plant with purple flowers
I have collected a wetland plant that I can't seem to identify. Its an emergent plant collected along with a species of sagittaria. Very similar in leaf structure to an sagittaria or alisima, but i...
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Lincoln , NE
Hybrid of Campsis radicans to attract hummingbirds
Hello :) I am not new to gardening...just new with new varieties of plants/flowers. I tried to do my "homework" first before contacting you...so I do appreciate your time. Anyhoo, I'm developin...
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Manhattan, KS
Source for Bumelia lanuginosa in Kansas
Do you know of a source of Bumelia lanuginosa? I would like to include it in a future landscape construction project on the Kansas State University campus.
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Salina, KS
Plant with dark black/purple berries in a cluster
Today at our local dog park we noticed a bush/vine that's been growing up the fence is producing berries. It didn't flower at all. The berries look to have started out green and now are changing t...
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Plattsmouth, NE
Native trailing plant for Nebraska
I live in the tall grass prairie area of Eastern Nebraska and am working on some prairie restoration and native plantings. I have just put in a limestone retaining wall and would like to find a nativ...
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Rock Port, MO
Shrubs to block dust from dirt road
I live on a dirt road in Northwest Missouri. Could you recommend a fast growing, low maintenance shrub/bush that will form a barrier to block the dust from the dirt road? Thank you
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Bennington, NE
Why is water used for plants.
Why is water the most popular thing for watering plants if is so plain?
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bennington, NE
Thickness of liquid when growing plants
Q: Does the thickness of liquid matter when growing plants?
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Bennington, NE
Difference in natural soil and potting soil.
If you buy store bought soil is it different than soil from the ground?
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Bennington, NE
The most important part of growing plants.
In your opinion what is the most important part of growing plants.
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Bennington, NE
How do plants living in various climates differ?
Do plants that live in different climates have different tecture or are they just totally different?
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Spalding, NE
Bulbs named exotica
When I purchased some seed from a catalog I received some free bulbs called exotica which I planted.They have long green stems. I don't know what they are or what to do with them. Can I plant them ou...
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Spalding, NE
Care for an orchid
I have another question. How do I care for an orchard. I have had it close to a year and it hasn't grown. How much water do they take.
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Omaha, NE
Native holly (ilex) for Austin area
Hi--my brother and his family live in Austin, TX--their german shepard "Holly" just died (she was 13)--I was throwing around the idea of sending them a holly plant of some sort to have in honor of H...
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omaha, NE
Various landscape problems in Omaha, NE.
Thank you for your time, sorry i cant sort this out because my issue seems to fit many but also none of the issues I've read about. Some patches of grass in my lawn have yellow spots and dying and/or...
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