Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Ask Mr. Smarty 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.

Support NPINHelp grow the Native Plant Information Network by giving to the Plant Database Fund or subcribing to Wildflower magazine.

Subscribe online now
Mr. Smarty Plants would give Wildflower magazine two thumbs up...if he had two thumbs.
Share

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.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

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.

Questions From Near You

Fredericksburg, VA
Bluebonnets and paintbrush for Fredericksburg VA
Can I broadcast Texas bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush seeds, in Virginia, during early Spring and get germination; or, do I need to winterize and plant next spring.
view the full question and answer

Fredericksburg, VA
Blackeyed Susans becoming invasive in Fredericksburg VA
Are the roots of the Blackeyed Susan (BES) invasive enough to actually destroy bulbs. BES have moved into a bed exactly where my oriental lilies were..this year the whole row of red lilies (which had...
view the full question and answer

Fredericksburg, VA
Plants for pots outdoors in winter in Virginia
Hi Mr. Smarty Plants, I was wondering what plants would be best to grow outdoors, in pots, in Virginia, in the winter? This is a lot of restrictions but we just need 2-3 plants for our office pati...
view the full question and answer

Fredericksburg, VA
Deer resistance of peonies in Virginia
Are peony's deer resistant - I'm in Virginia
view the full question and answer

Fredericksburg, VA
Low cost landscaping in Federicksburg VA
Hello, I live in Fredericksburg Va and I rent a townhome with a small yard. My back yard is almost completely mud and my front yard has a hideous square shrub. So my question is do you have any plant ...
view the full question and answer

Spotsylvania, VA
Care for non-native ice plant in Virginia
Regarding the ice plant in Virginia - do you cut it back or just trim or just leave it alone before winter?
view the full question and answer

Stafford, VA
Thicken clumps of Panicum virgatum in Stafford VA
I am growing Panicum Virgatum varieties that will be transplanted in September to form a Native American maze project. I have given the quart size starts a root fertilizer when I planted them to try ...
view the full question and answer

Stafford, VA
Information about ice plant (Carpobrotus edulis)
I recently planted some Carpobrotus edulis, Ice plant, and wanted to know if I can mulch or put stones around the entire garden and plants. They are a ground cover plant.
view the full question and answer

Dumfries, VA
Fall seeding of Butterfly Weed in Virginia
Just ordered seeds from you - Butterfly Weed - and I plan to hopefully scatter the seeds early Oct. in an area along a tree line here in No. VA where the sun bakes the soil as it is exposed to hot wes...
view the full question and answer

Dumfries, VA
Grow bluebonnets in Virginia
I want to ATTEMPT to grow some Texas Bluebonnets in VA because I am homesick and both our kids are back in Austin. That said, the site says " it may be necessary to inoculate the soil with a rhizobiu...
view the full question and answer

Dumfries, VA
Smarty Plants on wildflower identification
Can you recommend a good CD-ROM on wildflower identification? I live in Virginia and am constantly frustrated trying to identify the myriad wildflowers I encounter as I move around the state.
view the full question and answer

Woodbridge , VA
Topical treatment for poison ivy rash
I would like to know a topical treatment for the poison ivy rash
view the full question and answer

Woodbridge, VA
Mystery fast-growing plant with the honeysuckle
Mr. Smarty Plants, We have a section of honeysuckle, then a section of this 4 foot, bright, hairy green leafed, thorn bush that seems to be blooming/growing faster than the honeysuckle. Then a sectio...
view the full question and answer

Woodbridge, VA
Propagation of hostas
I have many different types of hostas in my yard. This year they bloomed abundantly and now have large pods where the blooms were which are full of seeds. My questions: 1. If I plant these pods, o...
view the full question and answer

Woodbridge, VA
Fast-growing "climbing" tree.
I live in Northern Virginia. My children would love for me to plant a "climbing" tree - short trunk, nice spread of limbs. Can you recommend a tree that could grow to meet this requirement in abou...
view the full question and answer

Woodbridge, VA
Identification of Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) in Virginia
Hi, I am very curious about a bulb growing wild plant in our back yard. We have recently moved to the Woodbridge, VA area. There is a stream running trough our property. The plant looks almost like la...
view the full question and answer

Woodbridge, VA
What to plant in northern Virginia
We have recently purchased 10 acres in Northern Virginia, and would like to plant native wildflowers on 4 of the acres. The soil has a high clay content and is currently covered in a mixture of grasse...
view the full question and answer

Port Tobacco, MD
Plants for erosion control in southern Maryland
Would you recommend a plant that would act as erosion control for woodlands in Southern Maryland? The soil has a high clay content with a mature hardwoods population.The current erosion is significant...
view the full question and answer

Occoquan, VA
Plant identification
Today I was at Woodlawn Gardens, home of Nelly Custis, granddaughter to George Washington. There was a flowering plant there that had green (yes green) bell shaped flowers and very dark green leaves....
view the full question and answer

Doswell, VA
Non-toxic plants for horses in Virginia from Doswell VA
Looking for a list of Non Toxic plants to horses in the State of Virginia.
view the full question and answer

Manassas, VA
Non-native daylilies for steep hill in Manassas VA
Would like to plant steep hill w perennial flowering plants like daylily. The daylily farm said this would work great but not sure if we should lay landscaping fabric and poke through holes to plant ...
view the full question and answer