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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 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!

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Wednesday - August 01, 2012

From: Austin , TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives, Pests, Trees
Title: Crape myrtle in Austin
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Please don't bother to answer my question about how to treat a crepe myrtle with sticky stuff falling from it. I just found the answer on your site. Good site, by the way.

ANSWER:

Thank you. It often saves a lot of time (ours and yours) to read our previously answered questions, searching on a specific word or phrase. Aphids seem unusually bad this year, and even worse in the non-native crape myrtle. We may have already answered your question, because it is so common and easy to answer. Mr. Smarty Plants is a team of volunteers working on their own computers at home.

 

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