Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members 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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Propagating a white cultivar of Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora September 09, 2016 I am trying to propagate a white cultivar of the Texas Mountain Laurel. I plan to use bee sticks and pollinate the plant. Are the plants self fruiting or do I need to find another white mountain laure... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Young Mexican White Oak Losing Leaves in Texas July 13, 2016 I have a 5 yr old Mexican white oak, 20 ft tall losing its leaves mostly at the top. They turn brown & fall off. It does not lose its leaves in the winter, right?. About 3 ft from the top down is bare... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Manzanita Not Growing Well July 11, 2016 Dear Mr Smarty Plants, I have a four native Dr. Hurd manzanitas growing in my yard, which I planted three years ago. Three seem quite happy with lots of foliage. The fourth has foliage only on this ye... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Drought Resistant Privacy Screen for North Side of Austin Texas House July 10, 2016 We live in the densely populated Mueller development, where there's barely 3 feet from our home to the 6 foot high privacy fence between us and the house next door. Since the houses are 2 stories, we ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Spacing for a Desert Willow Tree in California July 07, 2016 How close to a house can I plant a desert willow tree? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Removing Old Poison Ivy Vines from Pecan Trees July 07, 2016 I am in the process of cleaning up a creek bank that has very old pecan trees on it. The pecan trees have large poison ivy vines growing up the trunks. We cut one vine and when it died and fell from ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Native Texas Trees from Seed for Fence Line July 07, 2016 My parents have an unirrigated fence line on their property that they want to grow evergreen screening plants along. Given the difficulty of establishing nursery grown plants in such an unirrigated a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Southern Live Oak Authority for Jackson MS June 23, 2016 Who are the foremost authorities on Southern Live Oaks? May need expert testimony to oppose cutting of 50 year-old live oaks in boulevard of Riverside Drive in Jackson, MS View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Cedar Elms too close together April 27, 2016 I'm fairly new to North Texas and recently bought a new home with 2 young cedar elms in the front yard. From my understanding these trees can grow quite large. My front is about 25 feet wide and the... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Sophora seeds to give away April 13, 2016 When we moved to TX years ago we bought a mountain laurel so we could have the beautiful purple flowers and were disappointed when the flowers every year were white (with a few purple ones here and th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Why doesn't my Rusty blackhead bloom? April 10, 2016 I have planted Rusty blackhaws the past several years..some bloomed the first year and every year since....and others 3 years old have not bloomed yet... Do all Rusty blackhaws bloom eventually or ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Large, fast-growing shade tree for Val Verde County, Texas April 03, 2016 What is an overall good shade tree, very large & fast growing, to plant in Central South Texas, Val Verde County region? I am told that virtually nothing but Live Oaks or some other type of Oak will ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Status of Texas Olive tree in Katy, TX March 30, 2016 I have a Texas Olive tree and it has very few leaves. Is this normal? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Need to identify Cherry laurel varietyin Bee Caves, TX March 29, 2016 I recently had cherry laurels installed in my yard for privacy. Unfortunately, the landscaper does not know what type of cherry laurel they are. The tag from the tree says Che-Com which to me might in... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Tree with blue berries in Los Angeles, CA March 22, 2016 There's a tree outside my house with somewhat thin and short spiky leaves with blue berries. The berries Some of the berries have a frost look and some are dark blue. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Using Coffee Grounds under Live Oaks in Texas? March 18, 2016 Can you add coffee grounds to live oak tree? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Planting a Willow Close to a Water Line March 18, 2016 I have a postage stamp-sized front yard, with the water tap in the front 1/3. I believe the water line runs right through the middle of my pss-front yard. I REALLY wanted to plant a weeping willow t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Native tree for Uvalde Texas March 10, 2016 What Tree can grow in Uvalde Tx. Native type View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Growing Loblolly Pine in Salado, Texas March 09, 2016 I would like to plant a loblolly pine in Salado, Texas. Will these grow well here? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Does Possumhaw need full sun for a bountiful crop of berries? March 02, 2016 I planted a possumhaw last year in a sunny location, however as the season changed the plant became shaded by a large Ashe juniper all through the winter. No berries this winter, but it is a young pla... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Pruning Wax Myrtle trees & bushes February 28, 2016 When is the best time of year to prune Wax Myrtle trees & bushes. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Preventing Oak Galls February 22, 2016 How do you prevent live oak galls? Do you have a solution? Many of our live oaks are infested with them. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Two Holly Cultivars for a Texas Front Landscape? February 22, 2016 We are starting a new with our landscape. All existing 30-year-old plants are going to be removed. We would like a focal point at the front door area and are considering 'Savannah' or 'Nellie R. St... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Questions about Catalpa bignonioides February 21, 2016 We have a yard that is about 3/4 of an acre, and we have gotten rid of about 3/4 of the lawn and replaced it with native plantings. I am looking for a native tree to replace a tree that we had to rem... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Spacing for Dogwoods and Cotoneasters February 21, 2016 How close should Dogwoods and Cotoneasters be to bricks? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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