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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Thursday - May 06, 2010
From: Toutle , WA
Region: Northwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Can you identify a funny looking bulb that I bought at the grocery store? Probably not..
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
I looked through your data base and did not find what I was looking for. I bought this funny looking bulb at a grocery store. It looked like a giant shriveled spider when i bought them. Due to lack of care because of personal problems, they did not do well but one did come back this spring. It has 12-15 spear shaped leaves in a circle at the top of a stalk. The bud to the flower is about an inch long and has layers of green scales all the way to the top. I got rid of my personal problem and my house plants are flourishing and now am starting on my yard. Thanks for any help in identifying this strange but pretty plant.ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants has found that it is difficult, if not impossible, to identify a plant from a written description regardless of how good the description is. I am going to offer two suggestions: one is to return to the store where you bought the bulb and see if they know what it is. The second is to go to our Plant Identification page and follow the instructions for sending us a photo of the plant. A picture is worth a thousand words.More Plant Identification Questions
Pepper plants growing in California
September 11, 2008 - Hello, I have several hot pepper plants growing in my yard. I would like to know what the pepper is called. I dry them out and grind them up to a powder and use it in many dishes. I have asked my l...
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Identification of tree with strawberry-like fruit in North Carolina
September 24, 2011 - While visiting Boone, North Carolina we walked the Greenway in town. There were a few trees with a round red fruit similar to a strawberry. They were about the size of a penny and a dull red color dot...
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Identity of tree with fragrant yellow flowers and thorns
June 06, 2013 - I'm not sure if this is a native plant. It's a tree, around 15" tall. The leaves are in bunches with 3-4 very sharp small spines at each bunch. Flowers are small, yellow, hang down from the leaf...
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Plant identification
April 04, 2010 - There is a wildflower growing in my pasture.
It is low growing, triangle leaves, flowers are blue, five petals with what looks like a white flower in the middle.
Gods blessings to all there.
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Information about pre-1920s biodiversity near San Antonio
February 12, 2012 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants:
I am transforming my .3 acre urban yard three miles north of downtown San Antonio into a native wildscape. I am planting all native plants using your website, books, and nea...
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