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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Smarty Plants Question Topics
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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| What to do with agave after it blooms from Phoenix AZ March 12, 2013 Hello! I have 2 century plants in the process of blooming. How exciting!! I've never really seen it before. Anyway, what do I then do with the dying/dead plant. Simply dig it up and trash it? T... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Edibility of non-native garlic sprouts from Brancburg, NJ March 12, 2013 I have regular garlic in my refrigerator. It had sprouts growing out of it so I put it in a cup of water. Now that the stems are large enough to put in food, my question is.. Is that part of the garl... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Starting Antelope Horn Milkweed Seeds March 08, 2013 I recently found a sealed plastic bag containing milkweed seeds in a cabinet drawer that I had gathered more than a year ago, (maybe two years ago). These are the "antelope horn" milkweed I think it... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Propagation of Texas sage from Bastrop, TX March 01, 2013 Am I wasting my time trying to transplant texas sage runners? Any advice? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Saving frozen yuccas from North Carolina February 23, 2013 I live in NC and have 2 potted yucca plants on my deck. Every year I have brought them in for the winter. This year, someone told us that we could leave them out all winter. They began to die in the c... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Source for dotted blue-eyed grass from Saluda SC February 23, 2013 I lived in Texas for several years and now live on acreage in South Carolina. I have heard that bluebonnets don't grow well in South Carolina. However, there is a place by the road near our house t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Pollinating Pawpaws February 06, 2013 We have many good sized pawpaw trees in our area but they never bear any fruit. I've checked them at different times in the fall over the years but no fruit. Someone told me that the flowers were po... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Poppies for a wedding in August from Highlands Ranch CO February 04, 2013 Are poppies available to buy for weddings in August in Colorado? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Wildflower garden with Castilleja indivisa (Indian paintbrush) January 08, 2013 I want to start a wildflower garden in my front/backyard. Specifically, I would like to include the indian paintbrush. What is the best way to go about this? Straight in the ground, containers, etc... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Starting yucca from seed from Austin December 24, 2012 I would like to start a soft leaf yucca recurvifolia from seed. Is that possible? Also, I've looked for seed on dried flower stalks, and I'm not sure that what I'm finding is the seed, and I ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
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