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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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

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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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.

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Wednesday - May 07, 2008

From: Houston, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identification of plant with long skinny stems and red flowers
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I keep seeing around this very pretty plant that has long skinny stems and bright red flowers that are tube like and skinny too. I would love to get this plant but do not know what it is called.

ANSWER:

Mr. Smarty Plants is going to give you several possibilities. If it isn't one of the ones suggested, perhaps you can find the plant(s) and take a photo to send us to identify. You can learn how to submit photos for identification by reading the instructions under "Plant Identification" in the lower righthand corner of the Ask Mr. Smarty Plants page.

Here are some possibilities for your plant:

Hesperaloe parviflora (redflower false yucca)

Stachys coccinea (scarlet hedgenettle)

Salvia coccinea (blood sage)

Salvia greggii (autumn sage)

Salvia roemeriana (cedar sage)

Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii (flame acanthus)

Aquilegia canadensis (red columbine)