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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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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

coppell, TX
Will Hyacinth Beans and Cardinal vine (non-natives) grow in Texas?
I live in Coppell, TX, and a neighbor gave me some Hyacinith Beans and Cardinal Vine seeds to plant. She described these as doing well in her local garden, but I cannot find a photo or picture of them...
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Coppell, TX
Small Tree for Texas Garden
I would like to plant a small tree just 3-4 feet from my house, but I don't want to damage the foundation. Is there a small fruit or nut tree I could plant that would fit the bill? Failing that, is t...
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Coppell, TX
Tree with tap root for small area near Dallas
Mr. Smarty Plants, I live in Coppell, TX (a suburb of Dallas) & am looking for a tree to plant near our pool to provide some shade. The current tree (a silver leaf maple) is dying. My husband thi...
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Coppell, TX
Identification of a cucumber-like vine with fruit
We found tiny, grape-size white melon-like fruit on a vine, with tomato-like/cucumber-like seeds. The leaves on the vine were similar to grape or cucumber leaves, but not spiny. They were behind our...
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Coppell, TX
Sun and shade landscaping in Coppell TX
My two-story home in Coppell Texas faces north. The houses are ten feet apart. The sun leaves the front yard late-0ctober/early-November. It is March 24 and the beds are still in house shade. In s...
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Coppell, TX
Native shrub for hedge in Dallas County, Texas
Looking for something to plant as hedge around yard for privacy. Prefer not to have to trim and like natural look, not over 8-9 ft. in full sun. Year round privacy for pool needed.
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Coppell, TX
Identification of tall dry, stalk plant in Central Texas
I'm trying to identify a plant from my childhood in Central Texas, as I'd like to evaluate its potential as a biofuel crop. It is a stalk-plant, growing quite tall, 7-8' on average, with knobbed...
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Coppell, TX
Diagnosis of problems with Texas ash
Our 15 year old Texas ash has less leaf production this year. It also has a small amount of algae on the trunk, and some of the branches have small white spots on it. Also, a few of the branches close...
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Coppell, TX
Evergreen tree for screen behind a waterfall
I want to plant 3 evergreen trees as a screen behind a waterfall and along a fence by my pool. We took down a wax myrtle due to winter/ice damage and the mess in the pool. I want male yaupon hollies...
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Lewisville, TX
How to grow Blue Cohosh in Lewisville TX
I bought Blue Cohosh seeds from an online website, but I do not know how or where to plant them and what will guarantee germination, and the instructions that came with the package are very vague. The...
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Lewisville, TX
Identification of cucumber-like plant with red fruit
Hi; My name is Peter, live in Lewisville. When I walked through a park trail last year, I noticed a very strange vine described as the following: It is vine with leaves and stems (size and shape) lo...
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Lewisville, TX
Distance for Escarpment oak to house from Lewisville TX
I am planting an Escarpment Live Oak about 15' from my house. Thats as far away as I can plant it. Will this be a safe distance? How large will it be in 20 years?
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Lewisville, TX
Century Plant woes
My century plant was fine two weeks ago. Tonight I seen this. Not sure what is happening. It 9 years old. IMG_4716.JPG
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Lewisville, TX
Problems with Blackfoot Daisy from Lewisville, TX
I planted a row of Melampodium leucanthum (Blackfoot Daisy) last spring at the front of the front yard, next to the sidewalk. It's full sun, east facing, unamended black clay gumbo soil. I put mulc...
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Lewisville, TX
Location of Indian Paintbrush in Lewisville, TX area
Know the location of any spots where Indian Paintbrushes grow in North Texas? I'm in Lewisville, about 10 miles north of Dallas.
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Flower Mound, TX
Exposed area on native elm in Texas
I have an elm tree starting to show signs of dying. It has an exposed area at the trunk of the tree turning white. When it rains there is a 6-inch strip (the width of the exposed area) running up th...
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Flower Mound, TX
Wisteria with root rot in Flower Mound, TX
I have a wisteria that is showing rot root from an exposed wound on the side of the base. Would like to save the tree. What can I do to fix the problem.
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Flower Mound, TX
Tall, narrow evergreen for front of house in Flower Mound, TX
Please recommend a tall, narrow evergreen to be placed at the front corner of my house.
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Flower Mound, TX
Plant ID in Flower Mound TX
I have a large native tree in the back yard, leaves resembles a live oak, but evergreen,& small white flowers in the spring, very tall vase shaped tree. It had no acorns or berries.
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Flower Mound, TX
Eastern red cedar as tall privacy hedge for North Texas
I live in Northern Texas, outside of Dallas, and I need a very, very tall hedge to hide the view of the neighbors car lot from our second floor. We see everything beyond his fence and it drastically ...
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Flower Mound, TX
Native plants for full sun and low maintenance
I have volunteered to plant flowers/bushes around a sign at my church. I want to plant indigenous plants so the maintenance is low but I also want attractive plants. The soil is clay and the locatio...
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