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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

Kempner , TX
Ash tree dying back to lower sprouts in Kempner TX
My 2 year old ash tree leaves dropped, appears dead, branches dying. New growth near base of tree. Do I cut upper trunk or remove entire tree? My other ash is doing well.
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Burnet-Kempner, TX
Source for trees from Burnet TX
I am desperately searching the central Texas area for Pistacia Mexicana male and female trees to buy. I would like about four, maybe more. I live in the Killeen-Lampasas area and have been to seve...
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Copperas Cove, TX
Problems with gnats in dirt
I have problems with gnats in my dirt. It's something I can't get control of. What can I do?
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Lampasas, TX
Treating scarred Gum Bumelia from Lampasas TX
We have a very old Gum Bumelia with a scarred open tree trunk. In the past concrete was used to fill the scarred trunk. What is the acceptable method of helping the tree. More concrete or using blac...
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Lampasas, TX
Toxicity of seeds of Texas Mountain Laurel for dog
I have a Tx Mountain Laurel that is in 1 end of a dog pen. I just heard the seeds are poisonous. Is this true & should we pull the seeds off so the dog can't reach them to eat? Thanks for your assist...
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Lampasas, TX
Native plants for butterflies and birds in a park in Lampasas, Texas
There is an area along a creek in Lampasas, Texas that I want to establish as a butterfly and bird park. There are various native plants there now, but I want to add plants that are hosts for butterf...
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Killeen, TX
Container plants for pool area in Killeen TX
We live in Central Texas (Killeen). We want to put some container plants around our pool. (backyard with pool is all cement). We want some larger stuff, like maybe bamboo, elephant ears, etc. What pla...
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Killeen, TX
Plants dying in circular garden in Killeen, TX.
I have a large circular garden in my backyard out in the country in Killeen Texas. Last year two elms died. This year the Rose of Sharon has been dying one by one. One bush will completely die off bef...
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Killeen, TX
Brown, dry leaves on weeping willow tree
We live in central TX and have just planted a weeping willow tree. Our back yard has a retention pond and ravine that parallels our property and we were told that the weeping willow will do perfectly ...
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Killeen, TX
Problems with Mexican Monterrey Oak in Killeen, TX
I planted a Mexican/Monterrey White Oak in September of 2008. It was about 10 ft tall and about 1 1/4 inches in diameter at the bottom. I kept it watered over the winter and spring and of course, ve...
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Killeen, TX
What causes peach fruit to ooze sap?
I have a peach tree at our new house. The peaches are small and yellow but appeared healthy. Now it looks like they are oozing or weeping sap out of several places on each one. I dont know if its a di...
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Killeen, TX
Native plants for containers
Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I have found the website very helpful, but have a few questions of my own. I recently purchased the winecup plant, phlox and cedar sage perennials. I have planted them in ...
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Killeen, TX
Fruit trees non-toxic to dogs that will grow in Killeen TX
I live in Central Texas and I'd like to know if there is any fruit tree that is non toxic to dogs that will grow well in my area. My dog eats everything in sight. Thanks!
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Adamsville, TX
Plant identification
I found a large shrub/tree behind an old building on my place. It has small smooth oval leaves 3/4-1 inch; x 1/2 inch, small somewhat clusters of a blue fruit 1/4-1/2 inch diam with one seed in it. Ca...
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Harker Heights (Bell County), TX
Need plants to cover a fence and retaining wall combination
Recently we replaced our fence and I need help with plants to mask an 18 foot section of fence/retaining wall. The fence guy set the fence back about 10 inches from the top of the retaining wall which...
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Florence, TX
Native Texas Trees from Seed for Fence Line
My parents have an unirrigated fence line on their property that they want to grow evergreen screening plants along. Given the difficulty of establishing nursery grown plants in such an unirrigated a...
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Florence, TX
Mystery cactus in Williamson County, Texas
We have a cactus plant on our place that I have not seen anywhere else in central Texas. The flowers are bright yellow with wine-red centers, but very sparse--only one flower blooms at a time. The p...
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Florence, TX
Frostweed under oaks
Our 5 acre property is located about 12 miles West of Salado on FM 2843. Under our beautiful Live Oak trees reside some plants that are just coming into bloom (9/29/07). They are about 3-4 ft high wit...
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Florence, TX
Looking for Texas endangered trees to plant
I have 2 acres of good soil that does not have any trees. I would love to give life to native Texas endangered trees but I can not purchase them anywhere. Do you have any suggestions?
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Florence, TX
Drought tolerant grass with little need for mowing for Hill Country of Texas
What grass would you recommend for the hill country of Texas that is drought tolerant and does not need frequent mowing?
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Bertram, TX
Landscaping in Bertram TX
I have a landscaping job in Bertram, Texas and am looking for all my options as far as full and partial shade somewhat hardy plants. I'm mainly looking for small plants and pretty flowers I can do wi...
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