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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 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.

Questions From Near You

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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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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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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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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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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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
Problems with dogwood tree in Jacksonville FL
Sir, I believe I have a Cornus drummondii, a stiff dogwood tree on my lawn which a few years ago was big, lush and full of branches and leaves. In the last 2 years I have noticed about 80% of it drop...
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Jacksonville, FL
Identity of a plant in Florida with red fruit like a small tomato
It looks like a small tomato but it isn't. It has a bunch of flakey seeds on the inside, which are a light brown in color. The outside is red, and I think it starts out growing green and also white....
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Jacksonville, FL
Thorny vine growing through hedge
In my hedge, a vine grows that has a bulbous root. It has large thorns up and down the vine. The leaves are shiny and grow all along the vine that is exposed to the sun. the vine grows up thru hedg...
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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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Jacksonville, FL
Stopping erosion on bank of a Florida retention pond
I live on a retention pond, which has had all vegetation killed by the lake doctor. As a result the bank has eroded so there is a drop off directly to the water rather than a sloping bank. What plan...
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Jacksonville, FL
What would replace non-native orange tree leaves in butterfly hatchery?
I have a very small orange tree that currently has dozens of caterpillars on it that look like bird droppings. I think I have narrowed them down to a swallowtail butterfly. I would love to let them ma...
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Jacksonville, FL
Hedge shrub for shade in Jacksonville FL
Looking for shrub or hedge ( no Azaleas please )to line front of house that is full time shade in Jacksonville Florida ( something different, on the lines of tropical if possible).
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