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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

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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Monday - September 23, 2013

From: Perkasie, PA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identification of plant growing with purchased plant
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I purchased a heurchera and there was another plant that was growing in the pot with it. I planted both together in my garden. The "other" plant is growing and none of the gardeners around here has any idea what it is. I can send you a picture but wasn't sure how to attach to this submission. It's leaves kind of look like a hosta but there is this weird pod that has grown and now there are small yellow flower that are starting to come out of the pod. It looks like it might be a tropical. I'm concerned because I'm wondering if I should bring it in for the winter. Thank you, Laurie

ANSWER:

Since the plant came with a plant that you purchased I suspect it is NOT a North American native (our area of focus and expertise) but an introduced cultivar and not something that will be in our database nor that we could easily identify.  Additionally, we do not have a means to attach photos to questions. Please visit our Plant Identification page to find links to several plant identification forums that will accept photos of plant for purposes of identification.

 

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