Native Plants
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Smarty Plants Question Topics
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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| Shade Tolerant Groundcover for Texas July 13, 2016 I live in Atascosa county in Pleasanton Texas, I have an abundance of Live Oak and Ash trees shading my property and need a groundcover for my backyard which is nothing but sand and where I have dogs ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Green Ash Tree in California Dropping Seeds July 06, 2016 We have two large green ash trees in our front yard. 2 yrs ago, they began to lose seeds year round. When they're green and when they turn brown. I believe they may have termites or some type of in... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Red bugs have appeared on my Texas mountain laurel April 10, 2016 What should I do about the red bugs on my mountain laurel? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Lopidea on Texas Mountain Laurel March 10, 2016 How do I get rid of lopidea on mountain laurel? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Preventing Oak Galls February 22, 2016 How do you prevent live oak galls? Do you have a solution? Many of our live oaks are infested with them. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Viburnum Leaf Beetle Damage to Native Viburnums February 02, 2016 Dear Friends, I am an officer of Protectors of Pine Oak Woods, a Staten Island, NY land conservation organization which also involves itself in forest restoration and invasive species control projects... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Caterpillars on Milkweed in MA January 23, 2016 I have found every year a black/red caterpillars on my milkweed. They eat everything! I have never been able to find out what they are or how to get rid of them. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Avoiding insect bites while gardening in Kansas December 03, 2015 I recently moved into Mission, Kansas(Johnson County). Every time I go do any yard work I get a couple of insect bite looking spots on body. They are somewhat painful and very itchy. One of them got i... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Honeybees swarming around galls on oak trees September 28, 2015 A large number of honeybees have descended on a live oak tree in my backyard. They appear to be feeding on the numerous galls on the tree as if they were flowers. What's going on? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Georgia Monocots for Dodder Infested Location September 02, 2015 I have a 12'x12' area where we planted carrots, and we got a surprise - dodder! Next year we planted corn - no dodder! This year we planted cosmos, and behold, we had dodder. I understand monocot... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Webworm on Texas Mountain Laurel in Texas September 02, 2015 I thought my mountain laurel had web worms and I sprayed for them. Now the plant looks like it still has the worms even though none are present. Also, I sprayed with a fungicide because some of the ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Question about a beetle eating bees August 22, 2015 I have a beetle that is about index finger or pinkie fingernail size. I have a bee hive and it's eating the bees by injecting it with an inch long probe and sucking out the liquid of my bees. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Lace Bugs on Lantana August 06, 2015 All my lantana bushes are suffering from severe lace bug infestation. The lace bugs have been seen via microscope as well exoskeletons and poop. The buds are destroyed and I have no flowers for hummin... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Pest Dug Up and Ate Hypoxis Corms August 06, 2015 After years of no problems, something recently dug up and ate all my Yellow star-grass corms. What is attracted to them and is there an organic way to prevent it? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Pests on Fan Tex Ash July 30, 2015 We planted a Fan Tex Ash last year on our property. It's doing very well, but there are a lot of large stink bugs, yellow jackets and red wasps on it daily. We cannot seem to find any information on ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| White spotting on prickly pear cactus July 28, 2015 Hello- I have large prickly pear cacti and just noticed large white spotting on some of the leaves. I also see some black bugs and apparently they are the problem.They are about 1/4" long. How can I ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Hydrangea with Pest and Sun Issues July 26, 2015 My hydrangea is in trouble. Something is eating holes in the leaves which then turn brown on the edges (the holes and the tips of the leaves are also burned). It looks like someone burned them with ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Identity of tiny green spiders found in Sego lilies July 14, 2015 Hi - I'm wondering if you can identify for me the name of the tiny green spiders that can be found inside Sego Lilies (Calochortus nuttallii). I have a photo if that would be helpful. Thanks!! Ca... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Keeping bugs out of a Texas home June 29, 2015 I'm slowly growing my gardens into natural habitats for birds, bees, butterflies and other little critters but would like to keep them outside of my house. Being in central Texas it is difficult to ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Discouraging Poison Ivy June 27, 2015 Is there a fern that discourages poison ivy from growing? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Turk's Cap and Pavonia insect problems June 27, 2015 My Turk's cap and Pavonia lasiopetala (rock rose) plants both have quite a few leaves that are skeletonized in appearance. I do not see any insects on the underside of the leaves. What could be cau... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Will cochineal insects washed from cactus plants harm adjacent Oleander? June 11, 2015 Will mealybugs (cochineal insects) power washed off prickly pear cactus harm adjacent oleander plants if the white fluff gets on the oleander? My neighbor asked me to power wash my prickly pears and t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Falling Balls from an Oak in Kingsland TX May 25, 2015 I have a large Live Oak in the back yard, with St. Augustine grass under it. It is April 3, 2015. The leaves have fallen and now little tiny round balls are falling. I am hearing a popping noise und... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| ID of insects attacking a Mexican Plum in Austin, TX May 11, 2015 I live in south austin and have a young 6' tall mexican plum. For the third year in a row it is getting eaten by small green 'leaf-rolling' worms. The destruction the past 2 years was so bad there ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Carolina buckthorn and Neem Oil Spray Damage April 27, 2015 It's April, I have a Carolina buckthorn that seemed to be doing well, about 8 feet tall, about 2 years old in part shade. It was putting out new leaves about a month ago and seemed to have infestati... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Black Sap from Live Oak in Austin, Texas April 20, 2015 We live in South Austin and our neighbor has several beautiful, enormous Live Oak trees whose canopies hang over into our yard. This past week, they've begun dripping some sort of black sap all over ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Chigger Control in Habiturf from Plano, TX April 08, 2015 We converted our back yard in Plano, Texas to Habiturf last spring/summer and have a nice lawn; however, for the first time since we have lived in this house for 32 years, the lawn was full of chigger... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Deer Resistant Evergreens for Pennsylvania Woods March 12, 2015 We are looking for evergreens that will grow in a partially shaded/wooded area and are ideally deer resistant. Hemlocks are out because of a parasite infestation in our area of Pennsylvania. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Deterring geese from a wildflower garden February 28, 2015 I've moved into a home with a large pond beyond the grass yard. I intend to plant a sunflower house with lots of other plants as part of the structure, such as flowering vines, clover, mint and thyme... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Insect damage to Meyer lemon in Texas February 19, 2015 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I have a Meyer Lemon tree in Galveston. It produced a lot of lemons. However, something has bit up to quarter sized holes from the side edges of the leaf. Could you please... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Using Dormant Oils in the Winter January 20, 2015 What are your thoughts on the use of dormant oils as part of a winter maintenance program? I live in Austin, Texas. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Possible leaf cutter ants in Elgin, TX December 08, 2014 I've planted many beautiful native vines and flowering plants this fall. However, in the past week I've noticed something has been eating these plants, including coral honeysuckle vine, salvia, and ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problem with leaf cutting bees in Houston, TX December 08, 2014 I have four Arapaho crepe myrtle trees in my backyard and two have leaves, especially the young leaves, being eaten by something. I do not see ants of beetles on the leaves and have not seen any bees ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| White snails in Austin, TX. October 01, 2014 We walked through an undisturbed site off of Hwy. 71 near Old Bee Caves Rd. and there were little white snails on the majority of the plants on site (not specific to certain types of plants). What typ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Weeping Willow Problem in Texas September 04, 2014 Our weeping willow's leaves are turning yellow and falling off. We are also seeing some brown, gnarly looking pods on some of the stems can you tell us what's happening? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Rabbit-proof Plants for Texas July 03, 2014 Do you have a list of flowers that rabbits will eat or will not eat so I know what to plant or avoid? I have a year-round rabbit population in my neighborhood and wish to co-exist with them without t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problem with mesquite tree limbs June 13, 2014 i keep finding some smaller branches of my mesquite tree in the turf area around the tree. when looking at the cut ends, they appear to have a smooth cut around the circumference of the limb about 1/... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Herbicide on Habiturf from Austin May 31, 2014 Can you recommend an herbicide that is safe to use on a Habiturf lawn? I followed the directions to put in a new Habiturf lawn about a month ago. The grass seedlings are doing well in places, but ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Infestation of shiny red and blue/black beetles May 27, 2014 I have an infestation of 1 cm long shiny red and blue/black beetles. They have red heads with black eyes and antenna, 2 (?) red spots on their sides, and a bluish black body. Before I kill them with ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Small tan balls on oak from Pipe Creek TX May 21, 2014 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, our spanish oak is growing tan colored lumpy balls about the size and weight of a marshmallow..sometimes just one at the end of a short stem and sometimes 2-3 clumped together.... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Will Canada geese eat Asclepias tuberosa from Cape May Court, NJ May 20, 2014 Will Canada geese eat my butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)? I know this plant is deer resistant. I really want to plant some on sandy bank near pond in my back yard, but I fear the geese will ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| How to Control Pests on Plants for Sale May 15, 2014 I am renting a closed spot at a flea market, and am having trouble with several infestations at once, and I am not sure how to control them. I am currently having trouble with aphids, whiteflies, and ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Webs on limbs of evergreen sumac from Austin May 13, 2014 We have a mature Evergreen Sumac (Rhus virens) that has spider webs on the end of some limbs. The end of the those limbs have died although new growth is coming on further up the limb. We live in th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| How are NPIN Deer Resistance Ratings Determined? May 06, 2014 If your plant data-base (which is the best thing since sliced bread!) is silent on the degree to which a plant is deer-resistant, does this mean you just don't have enough information to make the cal... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Clicking heard under an Oak in near Bandera, TX May 06, 2014 Hi, I live on a ranch in TX outside of Bandera. We're covered with live oaks, spanish oak and cedar. Last week,as I stood under an oak, I heard a constant fairly loud clicking sound under and around ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Control of invasive sandburs in Austin May 05, 2014 My attempts to control / eradicate Sanbur with pre-emergent corn gluten twice yeary for the last three years have been unsuccessful. My post emergent pulling weeds for 15 years has also been unsucces... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Small green balls falling from oaks in Hunt TX May 03, 2014 Our live oak trees have pin-sized black and green balls falling from them (there are so may that is sounds like rain!) The balls are not associated with or fall with the catkins. Thanks for your ass... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with non-native Banana Shrub from Houston May 01, 2014 My 7' beloved Banana Shrub (magnolia) has white dots on top of the leaves and nasty black stuff covering the backside of the leaves. The plant is dropping leaves. What can I do to save it? I has bee... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Tiny beetles eating a native plant in Austin, TX. April 15, 2014 Help! Found plant devoured in my wildflower garden! Covered with literally thousand of small black bronze beetles. They are on other plants but the other plants (native poppies, coneflower, coreops... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Mosquito problem from Mesa AZ April 07, 2014 We have a mosquito problem in our backyard, I think they're grass Mosquitos. I wanted to get lemongrass for a deterrent but both nurseries were out so I opted for rosemary. They're ALL OVER the rose... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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