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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Diseased non-native red tip photinias from Richmond VA April 08, 2014 Our red tip trees have a while substance on the bark at the base of each tree..look like some kind of fungus or mold, but we don't know how to get rid of it. Please help. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Growing Loblolly Pines Outside Native Range April 03, 2014 I would like a stand of pines on my property but do not know if they will grow in my area. Do you know if the soil in Waelder, Texas will support pines? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Yellowing leaves on Carolina jessamine from Las Vegas NV March 21, 2014 Carolina jessamine, has yellow leaves. 3 years old, grows on south wall, full sun. Same plant, in partial shade, has green leaves. Should I feed yellowish plant some nitrogen? If yes how much? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Problem with Quercus texana (Nuttall oak) in Alabama March 12, 2014 I have a 3" diameter Nuttall Oak that the builder planted when building the house. Last summer I noticed that several spots on the trunk were oozing sap (vertical approximately 1.5" long by 0.5" wi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Sap dripping from redbud in Bertram, TX March 03, 2014 Our multi-trunked Texas redbud has sap dripping down 3 of the trunks. It seems to originate from a very small crack in each trunk. The tree is just starting to show pink this week, and is about to blo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Problem with Prosopis glandulosa (Honey mesquite) February 27, 2014 One of our mature Honey Mesquite trees is losing thumb sized branches high up in the canopy because something is stripping the bark. The branches are completely white for 8-12 inches. Of course the ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Salvia farinacea and rust fungus from Kerrville TX February 22, 2014 Are Henry Duelberg salvias (Salvia farinacea)susceptible to rust fungus? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Cenizo dropping leaves from Corpus Christi TX February 20, 2014 Leucophyllum frutescens:I planted a Texas sage hedge in September of 2012. One of the plants is dropping its leaves. It is situated at the corner of an L-shape at the end of drive and corner of road. ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Care for California lilacs from Portland OR January 16, 2014 Hi There, We live in the Portland Oregon area, so temps are moderate and winters are wet. We have several California Lilacs that are about 7ft in height and have created the perfect screen. Love th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Problems with non-native citrus trees from Mesa AZ January 13, 2014 We have one valencia orange tree and one naval orange tree in our Mesa, AZ yard. Just noticed some oranges on both trees have a 1/4 inch diameter hole through the skin and the orange fruit and skin a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
New Jersey Tea shrub wilting and losing leaves December 30, 2013 I have New Jersey Tea shrubs transplanted last spring from nursery stock (18 tall, grown local) I live in SE WI. They are planted in part shade. There has been 6" of snow on the ground for weeks now... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Oak root resistant hedge for Southern California December 28, 2013 I live in Southern California and my cypress hedge has oak root fungus. What kind of hedge can I plant that will grow fast and be resistant to the fungus? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Trees failing to prosper from Denham Spring LA December 23, 2013 I live in Louisiana. Out of all of the native trees that we grow, there are two in particular that always struggle no matter what the conditions are in which they grow. The first one, sassafras, is ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Growing Dwarf Yaupon Holly in Texas December 04, 2013 We planted 10 extra dwarf yaupons in our Austin front yard. They were identified as 'Gremici' dwarf yaupon. I googled them to get more information about them in order to determine why five have di... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Is post oak resistant to oak wilt from Dallas TX November 22, 2013 I am confused. The NPIN website says that Post Oak IS susceptible to oak wilt, but all the other information I have been able to find says that it is resistant to oak wilt and rarely gets the diesase.... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Incorrectly planted anacua from San Antonio November 22, 2013 I purchased a 12' anacua tree from a local nursery about 18 months ago. It was not planted correctly (root bound, rolled into a hole about 3" larger than the pot) but is still alive with the number... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Yellowing leaves of Texas Sage (Cenizo) from Las Vegas NV November 21, 2013 Leaves of Texas Sage are turning yellow. Can you tell me why? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Young pecan trees with leaf and branch problems from Gatesville TX November 18, 2013 I have a young pecan tree that had very rapidly browning Leaves. They became brittle and so did the branches with affected leaves. The branches soon fell off. We treated with fungicide during that pro... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Cutting Back Perennials in the Fall? November 13, 2013 We have large beds of flowering native perennials that we planted around our house as part of a landscape conservation plan (various Joe-Pyes, goldenrods, turtlehead, blazing star, brown-eyed Susans).... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Ruffly foliage on native lantana November 05, 2013 A native lantana in my front yard has developed ruffly foliage on one stem. It looks like miniature broccoli. What can this be? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Fasciated Texas mountain laurel November 05, 2013 I've noticed some strange things hanging off some of the purple mountain laurels in my area. They hang low, and look almost like large, dangling trumpet flowers, but are flat, and have little bumps o... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Strappy leaves on rudbeckias from Houston October 31, 2013 My Rudbeckias keep sending up odd shoots with strappy leaves on them. Should these be cut off? What is their purpose? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
School project on acid rain effects on plants from Austin October 18, 2013 Hi I go to an Austin high school and I am doing a project on how acid rain affects plant growth. I am wondering if you know any plants that would be more or less susceptible to acid rain for this proj... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Problems with non-native photinia in Austin October 07, 2013 Hi, I live in Cedar Park, TX (Austin Suburb)and have planted a number of Photinia shrubs in various areas of my property. All about 10 months old. The leaves are curling along their length on many... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Problems with non-native St. Augustine lawn from Austin October 06, 2013 We have St. Augustine in our front lawn. There are some patches where the grass has entirely died but mixed in with the dead areas are little clumps of living grass. It seems to be spreading througho... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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