Native Plants
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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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| Problems with Savannah holly from Livingston TX October 05, 2013 Our Savannah Holly standards, planted in spring 2012, are now 10' tall, with 2-3" caliper trunks at the base. Some are in decline or have died. We thought the ribbons holding them to the nursery's ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Leaf browning problem on unidentified plant from Batesville MS October 01, 2013 Have a night series plant that is all of a sudden the leaves on the ends are turning dark brown and eventually back to the stalk. I flushes good and cut off dead parts and it continues. Any ideas? it ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Berry-looking parasites on live oak leaves September 20, 2013 Dripping Springs TX Live oaks. What are these berry looking parasites on my tree's leaves. As many as 4 1/4 in berries per leaf. I have 3 acres with dozens of liveoaks all having them on the leav... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Green cyst-like growths on Texas persimmon leaves September 20, 2013 We have a mature Texas persimmon. We just noticed some green cyst-like growths on the tops of some of the leaves. The undersides of those leaves have black spots where the growths are. They looks like... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Disease or insect damage on a Mexican plum September 08, 2013 Help, Our Mexican plum tree is about 13-14 years old. Earlier this year we noticed the trunk is oozing black stuff and whole branches are dying off. We have watched as our beloved tree has lost most ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with non-native Chinaberry tree from Tucson AZ September 05, 2013 I have a 30+ year old Chinaberry tree and this year the branches are much sparser with leaves and there are a lot of small dead branches. Should I fertilize and what should I use? Thank you View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Tree Lost Leaves September 05, 2013 Are leaf cutter ants found in Michigan too? My leaves are being completely stripped off the tree. It went from growing very well when we planted it, to having completely no leaves at all. I know the l... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Young Maple Dropping Leaves in Late Summer September 05, 2013 I have a 6-year-old maple tree. I'm not sure what type it is as the builder planted it. It is as tall as our two-story house and very healthy. It's the biggest tree in our neighborhood because we fe... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Recently planted Monterey Oaks doing poorly in Jourdanton, TX. September 02, 2013 We planted 2 nice size Monterrey oak trees in April .they were doing good with new growth on them. But now I have been noticing the leaves are turning brown around the edges. We water about once a wee... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Stressed live oaks from Lakeway TX August 19, 2013 I have some Live Oaks who appear to be stressed (Ball Moss is becoming very prevalent on some of them) during the drought in Central TX. How often and how long should I water them? Thank you very much... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Leaves wrinkling on Tecoma stans from San Antonio TX August 16, 2013 My two year old esperanza (planted in the ground) froze back last winter, came back from the roots & has been doing well all summer. Recently one branch has leaves that are nice & green but very wrin... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Help for Collapsing Tradescantia August 14, 2013 My tradescantia has completely collapsed at the crown. The stems are yellowish. This happened once before when I had it planted in full sun and I just had to discard it. This time I have one plante... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Tip Dieback on Lonicera sempervirens August 14, 2013 I have a Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle) vine in Virginia which does well early in the season, but then around July, the very tips of its shoots (just the last 1-2 inches) wither, turn black... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Dry browning leaves on Monterrey Oak from San Antonio August 08, 2013 I have a Monterey Oak that was planted four years ago and was doing great until the last two weeks. It has turned brown and the ends of the branches are very dry and brittle. The root flare was cov... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Possible maple scale on non-native mophead hydrangeas from Newport RI August 07, 2013 I have a mophead hydrangea that has small white cottony tufts under the leaves and on the stems. I believe this is maple scale. Is there a home remedy I can use to rid this disease? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problems with red oak from Austin July 31, 2013 I planted 3 Texas Red Oaks several years ago. The trees are in a tight cluster just a few feet apart. At the end of last summer, one of them began to develop brown spots and yellowed leaves. This summ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Leaves turning yellow on Banana Shrub in Eutaw. AL July 28, 2013 We have a very large (about 12' tall), very old (probably planted in the early 1900s) Banana Shrub in our front yard. It was very healthy until last year when its leaves began turning yellow and fal... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Trumpet Vine Dropping Buds July 25, 2013 My trumpet vine is dropping its buds before flowering. This happened last year as well. Do you know what is causing this and what I can do to prevent it? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problem with Habiturf. Is it dormant or dead? July 24, 2013 We planted habiturf in spring 2012. It's beautiful. But since last summer, we have had one area that seems to go dormant much more rapidly than the rest, even though it receives the same amount of ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Soaptree yucca falling over in Mesa AZ July 24, 2013 My soaptree yucca is about 5 ft tall and has fallen over. Does this plant require staking for I thought not, or is something else going on with it? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Yellowing leaves on Mexican Plum in Salado, TX. July 24, 2013 I do live in Cental Texas (Salado) and I have the same problem with my Mexican Plum as the lady in Bellaire, TX. Mine was planted in June in a raised bed and receives sun all day long. Within the la... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problem with unknown tree in Austin, Texas July 23, 2013 Have recently moved to Austin, Texas and have a tree in my backyard that has been dropping leaves and one major branch appears to be dead. That branch has hard rust colored sap circles (about penny si... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Sudden death of one side of Mountain Laurel from Canyon Lake TX July 22, 2013 Hello! We live in Canyon Lake TX and have a Mountain Laurel that is in distress. It is planted in an irrigated flower bed and has been happily growing for 5 years. It is about 5' tall and has sever... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Curling, Red Leaves on Gaura July 18, 2013 My gaura had most of its lower leaves turn red and then fall off. It is July now, I bought and planted it in May where it seemed to do really well growing several more inches tall and blooming nicely.... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problems with red oak trees in North Central Texas July 13, 2013 What is the disease effecting Red Oak trees in North Central Texas; causing them to lose leafs in Spring/Summer and turning the remaining leaves light yellow/lime green in color. Thank you. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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