Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members 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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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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| topic | question | |
| Is the mimosa tree poisonous? September 23, 2008 Is the mimosa tree poisonous ? If you burn the trimmed limbs is the smoke noxious ? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Information about invasive Paulownia tree September 22, 2008 What genus and species and family is this Royal Paulownia tree I hear about? Is it Elm? Linden? Dogwood? Is it a weed? thank you View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Poverty Weed in Wimberley, Texas September 20, 2008 I have seen differing reports about the native plant, Baccharis neglecta or Poverty Weed. Some reports say it is invasive and others consider it an acceptable native plant. I have quite a few Povert... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| East Texas grasses for holding soils September 17, 2008 Hi Mr. Smarty Plants, I have a question about the East Texas area: Specifically, which natvie grasses can be planted to hold the soil/new roads through the winter? Here is the situation: (Against... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Nutgrass September 12, 2008 Hey Hi Barbara, I just read the information you gave about nut grass. I had wished for other options. Back to digging them out. Thanks for the information What about substituting cud zoo. S... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| How to combat weeds growing in mulch September 12, 2008 Trying to decide on either ground cover plants, or some type of gravel. We have a new house where the builder has planted small shrubs in the full sun flower bed next to house. The bed has mulch at th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Comparisons of King Ranch Bluestem and Kleberg Bluestem grasses September 03, 2008 Regarding your answer to a question from Wimberly Tx on November 17 2007 about KR Bluestem: Many people confuse King Ranch Bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum) with Kleberg Bluestem (Dichanthium annulatu... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Transplanting Virginia creeper September 02, 2008 I have a large Virginia creeper plant approximately 15 feet in length. Is it possible to transplant the whole thing without killing it? If so how do I care for it after it has been moved? Thank yo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| My plants are choking. September 01, 2008 I have a trailing weed that is choking the other plants in my garden. It grows super fast and it has small white flowers. The flower looks a bit like a mini morning glory. I have tried pulling it as m... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Something to grow under a chinaberry tree August 29, 2008 I have a huge Chinaberry on the west side of the house. We enjoy the shade it provides and have it limbed up pretty high, but it's located between two 2-story houses and of course drops buckets of it... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Eradiacation of johnsongrass along roadways August 19, 2008 What does latest research show on eradication of Johnsongrass along roadways? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| List of North American plants grown in other countries August 17, 2008 I am working on a childrens story and would like to let the teachers who read this book know where some of the native plants in my book grow throughout the world, or if they grow outside of the USA. p... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Getting rid of King Ranch bluestem August 13, 2008 I have recently moved to South Texas Coastal town of Portland, Texas. My St. Augestine turf grass has been invaded by - what the neighbors tell me - King Ranch Blue Stem grass. I am having a terribl... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Introduction of King Ranch bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemem) August 04, 2008 Hello, I am a graduate student from TAMUK and I'm writing my thesis concerning natives vs. Old World Bluestems. I was wondering if you could help me find a source that states: King Ranch (or KR) Blu... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Pruning of Grape Kool Aid Plant in California August 03, 2008 I have a Grape Kool Aid plant and was told it would grow to 6 or 7 feet tall, but it is well over that and I need to know if I can prune it and if so how? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Controlling sedge in vegetable garden in Mississippi August 03, 2008 I have a veg. garden surrounded by Purple Sedge. The nut grass has been contained/eliminated by replacing all dirt 1' down. Now the surrounding sedge is beginning to creep inward infesting the gard... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Wild mustard growing in disturbed ground in Montana August 01, 2008 I have recently planted "plugs" of wildflowers in beds throughout my yard. Because the soil was disturbed, I now not only have some beautiful wildflowers growing, but also mustard plants growing in ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Getting rid of Polygonum punctatum (dotted smartweed) July 28, 2008 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, After much online research, my property has been invaded by what I believe to be Persicaria polygonum punctata, more commonly known as dotted smartweed. I have tried hortic... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| How to get rid of Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) July 28, 2008 We have an enormous stand of japanese polygonum that we are trying to get rid of. What soil type is the most inhospitable to this aggressive and highly invasive species? Were thinking of planting so... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| How to get rid of plants spreading fluffy seeds July 27, 2008 I live in Blaine, MN next to a Lake. The "buffer zones" next to the lake are filled with native grasses, weeds & wildflowers. We are trying to identify a plant that blooms July with lavender flowe... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Control of white clover (Trifolium repens) July 18, 2008 our yard was remediated by ARCO in Rico Colorado. they brought in soil that must have been from clover fields. the soil produces tense low growing and fast growing clover with white flowers. it is inv... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Non-flowering mimosas in Texas July 08, 2008 I have two mimosa trees, about 3 years old. Both were grown from volunteer seedlings. Neither have flowers nor have they produced seed pods. Are they too young or do they need a source of pollenation... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Controlling Phragmites australis, common reed July 04, 2008 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I volunteer at Cedar Ridge Preserve in Dallas. We are currently chopping down an invasive called Phragmites australis around the pond. The belief is that by continuously cho... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native vs. Invasive Experiment July 01, 2008 I asked you earlier about my group's experiment on native vs. invasive plants in Valdosta. Here are what we chose to work with..native: spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) and invasive: wild taro (Col... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native vs. invasive photosynthesis and CO2 exchange. June 27, 2008 My group is conducting an experiment on invasive and native plants in Valdosta, Georgia. Are invasive plant species better adapted to live in Valdosta than native plant species? How do invasive specie... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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