Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers Nan Hampton, Jimmy Mills and Barbara Medford to be the culpable and capable parties. Yet, others think staff members Damon Waitt, Joe Marcus and Philip Hawkins might 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.
Questions From Near You
Longmont, CO
Trumpet vines on wall in Longmont CO
I purchased three trumpet vines to plant on the NW wall of my house back in 2002. Although the leaves are a beautiful healthy dark green, none of them have ever bloomed despite regular fertilizing pe...
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Longmont, CO
Growing Texas Bluebonnets in Colorado
I bought bluebonnet seeds from your wildflower center last August when visited Austin. Being a Texas native, I want to enjoy bluebonnets here in Colorado. When do I plant my seeds outdoors? In the gro...
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Longmont, CO
Pollinator friendly lawn for Longmont CO
I have a sunny, treeless, South-facing yard, with a slight South-facing slope in Boulder County, CO. It has one patch of buffalo grass, but is more then half some other type of grass. I would like t...
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Longmont, CO
Sources of seeds for Quercus buckleyi
I'm looking for a source for Liners or seed of "Texas oak (Quercus buckleyi)". Can you tell me any sources?
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Loveland, CO
Columbines for September wedding in CO.
My daughter is planning a September 2010 wedding in Colorado. Is there any way for me to buy Columbines in the spring and keep them cool so that the pots all bloom in September for the wedding?
Also,...
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Loveland, CO
Are junipers tainting the soil in Loveland CO?
Have several varieties of junipers around my yard. Each year I try to place a small garden in a corner of my yard, the plants don't do well at all. Growing up nearby, I gardened with my parents so ...
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Broomfield, CO
Removal of Western yarrow invading lawn
We have western yarrow in our yard and it is starting to take over and kill the grass. How do we get rid of it?
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Broomfield, CO
Planting conditions for non-native Oriental poppy in Colorado
I live in Broomfield, CO. Is this a good time to plant oriental poppies, what is the best sun exposure and how should I prepare the soil?
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Northglenn, CO
Native wildflowers for Denver, Colorado area
I live in the Denver, CO area and would like to plant more native wildflowers. Can you please tell me where I can find a list?
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Westminster, CO
Columnar evergreen for Colorado
I am looking for an evergreen 6-8 (or more) feet tall, very columnar; 3 feet spread in diameter, zone 5, full sun, dark green, clayish-OK soil.
Thank you so much!
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Westminster, CO
Sagebrush for Westminster CO
On a recent visit to Taos, NM we fell in love with the local sagebrush. We would like to plant this sagebrush in our yard. We are located near Denver Colorado. Would this plant survive and how do we g...
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Boulder, CO
Correct family classification for Allium cernuum
What is the correct family classification for Allium cernuum? I have seen the nodding onion as part of the Liliaceae family on the USDA website and my field guides, but it is in the Alliaceae family i...
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Boulder, CO
Passionflower Vine for Boulder
I would love to have a passionflower vine growing up an arbor. I have read comments online that indicate: 1. I can grow some types of passionflowers in Colorado. 2. The plants can become very invasiv...
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Thornton, CO
Ground cover for Thornton CO
I want to order ground cover because I don't want to mess with grass any more. I live in Colorado, north of Denver. The soil has a lot of clay. I tried clover and that did not do well. My yard is par...
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Drake, CO
Can a Texas Mountain Laurel be grown in Drake CO
I live in Colorado, in the mountains near Estes Park, and would like to plant the Texas Mountain Laurel. Can they be grown in this environment. I would be willing to grow them in containers so I could...
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Arvada, CO
Viability of Cupressus macrocarpa in Arvada, Colorado
Can I plant lemon cypress in Arvada CO, zone 5, as landscaping plant? Can't find zone information.
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Arvada, CO
Removing non-native juniperus x pfitzeriana in Arvada CO
We have 200' of large juniper pfitzers (3' tall - 4' wide) that completely enclose our front yard. We want to remove all of them but the estimates to dispose of them have been extremely high. One...
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Denver, CO
Planting time for California poppies in Colorado
I live in Colorado and planted California Poppies in my front yard at the end of April. I read that I probably should have planted them in the fall. There have sprouted a little but they don't seem t...
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Denver, CO
Failure to thrive of non-native Lamium maculatum
Hello: Approximately 3 to 4 years ago I planted approximately 20 Lamium Beacon Silver plants in a shaded area of my yard, with limited sun. The first year they seemed very hearty and expanded. I ce...
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Denver, CO
Austrian pine in landscape in Denver CO?
I'm relandscaping my yard and want to use all or mostly native plants, as I want to create a wildlife. My landscape designer has indicated she wants me to use Austrian Pine in as a specimen tree in t...
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Denver, CO
Geographic determination of flower colors
Hi Mr. Smarty Plants,
I'd like to find out if there are any correlation between geographic location and the statistic of flower(native) colors. Here in the Rockies, there seems to be a lot more ye...
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