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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| Control of grasshoppers from Goldthwaite TX July 07, 2012 How long do grasshoppers live. They are eating our flowers, plants and trees. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Texas Ash secreting sap in Lockhart, TX July 05, 2012 I have what I believe is a Texas Ash in my front yard that is secreting a sap with what looks like some wounds on it with some white stuff and with black and red looking ants as well as it has a lot o... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Texas Mountain Laurel oozing sap in Spicewood, TX. July 05, 2012 We have a Texas mountain laurel that seems to be sweating. Oozing sap with no apparent signs of any type of bore holes, or holes made from any birds. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Application of sprays to non-native Crape Myrtle from Prosper TX June 29, 2012 Can applying a systemic insecticide/fungicide combo prevent or limit Crape Myrtle blooms? I have 5 large lavender Crapes that are not blooming or budding yet and this is the first time I have used a ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Goat damage to Arizona Cypress from Palmdale CA June 28, 2012 My goats stripped the bottom branches of my Arizona Cypress. Will they come back and how can I prevent future damage? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Pests on American Beautyberry from Austin June 25, 2012 Something is eating the leaves of my American Beautyberry shrubs. One is almost stripped of leaves on the upper branches. I have looked and can't see any insects or caterpillars. I have also looke... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problems with non-native parsley from Brooklyn NY June 17, 2012 Had beautiful flat leaf parsley plants recently turn yellow & die. Found black armadillo like bugs bored throughout the roots. Now they're spreading. How do I kill them without contaminating the pla... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with non-native yellow lantana from Elgin TX June 17, 2012 Why do my yellow lantana buds turn brown and do not open fully? The sprinkler system does not spray onto the lantana. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| White ash trees with bunched up leaves from Nevada TX June 09, 2012 I have very young white ash trees (3' tall planted this winter) The leaves are crippled not opening up bunched up together and have a white powder. Is this aphids mites or what. Only on one tree. Th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Something eating holes in Texas Betony from Austin June 06, 2012 What pest is eating holes in the leaves of my Texas Betonys? They look healthy but almost all leaves have various sizes of round holes in them. What is the best cure for this? Thanks View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Dandelions in bluebonnets in Bastrop TX May 31, 2012 I have a 20'x60' front yard area where I planted bluebonnets. It has become horrifically inundated with dandelions. How do I eradicate the dandelions while preserving the bluebonnets ? Thanks ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Spots on leaves of Esperanza from Dallas May 30, 2012 Have a new 1 foot high Esperanza. It is flowering OK (so far) but it has small rust colored spots about the size of a B-B all over most of the leaves. On the top side of the leaf the spot is depress... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Reaction to something in the garden from Dowling MI May 25, 2012 In late March I was working in my yard raking etc. The next morning I had three black spots between my knee and shin that were swelling and feverish. Two days later the areas became bigger and began... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Unknown pest of Texas Mountain Laurel from Round Rock TX May 24, 2012 I have a Texas Mountain Laurel that is being denuded from the top down by something unseen. It's not the Genista moth larvae, as there are no worms and no webbing visible. The only clue that it might... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Which plants are resistant to dog urine in Ashmore, IL?? May 21, 2012 Which native plants are resistant to dogs urinating on them? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problem with leaves of Texas Ash in Austin May 21, 2012 We purchased a 3' to 4' Texas Ash in March 2012. The past few days I noticed new leaves at the top are curled under, have a milky substance on them, and more than a few ladybugs on them. What is thi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Caterpillars eating passion vines from Austin May 17, 2012 My question concerns Yellow passion flower, purple passion vine & butterflies. I have had my passion vines for 3-4 years, each spring they start growing beautifully, then in 1-2 days are almost compl... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Cultivar of Cercis Canadensis from Haskell OK May 16, 2012 We have a Hearts of Gold Redbud that first had dark edges to many of its leaves (about 2 weeks after planting). It now has multiple leaves w/ medium-dark brown spots on them. Are we looking at some ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Spots on bark of Mountain Ash from Engadine MI April 30, 2012 I have a mountain ash that is about 5 years old & have just noticed white, patchy, scaly looking spots on the bark. Is this something to be concerned about??? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Mountain laurels with insect problems in Bandera, TX.. April 30, 2012 I have 3 mountain laurels about 8 yrs old. Suddenly about 3 yrs ago worms started decimating them. This yr I got dipel dust which works great but only for two weeks. I now have small red flies and ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problems with blueberries from Kernersville NC April 29, 2012 My blueberry plants have no leaves or scrawny ones. I have 13 plants, 5 of them are like this. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Pruning live oak in Austin April 28, 2012 Hi, We recently purchased a house in South Austin and there is a huge Live Oak Tree about 6 feet from the back door (so so so love it!) The only real issues I have so far are: 1. Needing to trim a ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| What is hollowing out my rosebuds in Austin, TX? April 28, 2012 I recently noticed some of my rose buds had been hollowed out from the inside. I have seen no evidence of insect though. What do you think it is and how can I treat the problem? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with Texas Ash from Sun City, AZ April 20, 2012 What might be causing the leaves on my Texas Ash tree to have brown spots and curl up and die? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Lopidea on Texas Mountain Laurel from Austin April 16, 2012 How do I get rid of the Lopidea ALL OVER my Texas Laurels and boring into the seed pods? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
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