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
St. Augustine, FL
Identity of garlic-like plant in Florida
Please tell me what this plant is. It is not Society Garlic and it is not Meadow Garlic. It has THREE curling purple leaves and lots of bulbs flowering from the same stalk. The pointy leaves are edg...
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St. Augustine, FL
Plant identification
Greetings, Sir/Madam! What is the name of that weed that grows ubiquitously in St. Augustine, Fl (literally overnight when it rains) and has two skinny "arms", with little greenish beads on the arm...
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St. Augustine, FL
Pruning of wax myrtle in St. Augustine FL
How severely can we prune our wax myrtle? It had grown 10 feet tall and very spindly and we want it to be a border hedge in front of the preserve in back of our yard.
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St. Augustine, FL
Vine for lanai in St. Augustine FL
What vine can I grow to attach to a screened in lanai around my pool? Will it damage my screen?
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St. Augustine, FL
Will non-native and invasive Mexican petunias grow under oak trees from St. Augustine FL
Will Mexican Petunias grow under an Oak tree?
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St. Augustine, FL
Late blooming Esperanza in St. Augustine FL
I bought an Esperanza at a plant expo- I was told it was a Florida native Allamanda. It took me two years to figure out what I had. Mine grows 8 ft. tall and is huge! But it doesn't bloom until alm...
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St Augustine, FL
Flowering plants for shade in St. Augustine FL
I would like to know what flowering plants I can purchase that grow in a shaded area in St Augustine Florida
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St Augustine, FL
Treatment of black mildew on magnolia
I think my magnolia has black mildew. How do I treat it?
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St. Augustine, FL
Looking for a source for Dollarweed in St. Augustine FL.
I need a source of Dollar Weed Seed and/or plants. The back yard has been regraded to correct direction of rain water drainage.
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St. Augustine, FL
Dwarf foundation plants for St. Augustine FL
Need to put in fast, low growing (3' max) foundation plants that would be frost hardy and work well in the St. Augustine area of Northeast Florida.
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St Johns FL, FL
Growing Chilopsis in Florida
I live in St. Johns County, FL between Jacksonville and St Augustine. I live inland, not near the beach. I bought a small desert willow plant in Victoria, TX and brought it back to FL to grow. I plan ...
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Palm Coast, FL
Live oaks lifting up sidewalks in Palm Coast FL
My live oak trees roots are lifting up my side walks. Can I cut just the roots that are causing the problem without hurting the trees? Thank you.
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Palm Coast, FL
Non-flowering Tecoma stans from Palm Coast FL
I have an adult tecoma stans that flowered for a few days in the spring and has not flowered since. What can I do?
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Palm Coast, FL
Salt tolerant plants for shade in wet Florida site
We live in north Florida and have an area that nothing will grow there, it is about 12 ft. long and very wet due to neighbors sprinklers. It is shaded and gets brackish water. Only 400 yards from oc...
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Palm Coast, FL
Care for non-native Desert Rose (Adenium obesum)
I was given a desert rose and i'm looking for general information about planting, watering, how much sun it needs etc.
I hope you can help.
Thanks
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Palm Coast, FL
Groundcover for beachside planting in Florida
What type of ground cover is best for beachside planting. Looking to replace lawn with salt tolerant, weed resistant, drought tolerant, little mowing, insect resistant ground cover. Any flowers are a ...
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Flagler Beach, FL
Plant ID of succulent from Flagler Beach FL
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I have a succulent t...
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Middleburg, FL
Weird growth on oaks in Middleburg FL
Dear Mr. Smarty Plants;
I have this plant/fungus that grows on my trees here in northeast Florida & nobody has been able to identify it for me. It looks like a clump of pine needles growing on the ba...
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Middleburg, FL
Plant identification
Dear Mr. Smarty Pants,
Hopefully you can help identify the following plant. I've had a bush type of weed growing near my hay feeder for the cows this year that's about 2' tall has massive spikes o...
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Bandera, TX
Mountain laurels with insect problems in Bandera, TX..
I have 3 mountain laurels about 8 yrs old. Suddenly about 3 yrs ago worms started decimating them. This yr I got dipel dust which works great but only for two weeks. I now have small red flies and ...
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Jacksonville, FL
Difference in native and non-native cherry laurel
I have a backyard volunteer that I have identified as a cherry laurel, but how do I tell the Carolina from the non-native? This is still young (2 years or so), and not flowering, at least not now.
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