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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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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
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topicquestion
How to Deal with Leggy Artemisia 'Silver Mound'
October 03, 2015
I have two Artemisia (I think 'Silver Mound') in full sun in West Austin. They have been happily growing there for the past 10 or so years. Both were hard-hit by last winter's cold weather and did...
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Florist Gloxinia Care
October 01, 2015
Got a florist gloxinia and it was doing great for months. Went on vacation and returned; it was wilted. Think son watered it too much. Allowed it to dry. It has some new leaves forming on the very leg...
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Need help with Wheeler's Dwarf Pittosporum
September 02, 2015
We have about five Dwarf Wheeler Pittosporum plants. All of them are mature and were doing well. I was on vacation for a week or so and when I came back I saw of each of them is plant 90% dead. The d...
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Are Native Cultivars As Beneficial to Wildlife?
September 02, 2015
I am working on adding more native plants to my small acreage. I would like to know if using a selection or cultivar of a native species is as likely to have wildlife benefits as using a randomly prop...
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Green Pearls or String-of-Pearls plant
August 13, 2015
Years ago I had a plant I called green pearls because that's what it looked like. It was an inside plant. Can you please help me with this? Thank you
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Will Bermuda grass survive a drought-induced dormancy?
August 12, 2015
If I stop watering a Bermuda grass lawn and let it go dormant, will it green up again when it rains again?
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Evergreen privacy screen
August 10, 2015
We are looking for a good plant(s) that would provide a privacy screen by our fence. We were looking at clumping bamboo (maybe black) because it grows quickly and it not too thick. The new plants woul...
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Plant Identification
August 07, 2015
I live in southeastern Michigan. I found a plant growing in the backyard that caught my eye. I chalked it off as a weed, but it's unique. It is shaped like a bushing type plant, has red stem, each cl...
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Is Crape Myrtle Native?
July 20, 2015
Hello, I live in Frisco, TX. Can you tell me is there any Crape Myrtle which is native to Frisco, TX.
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Getting Rid of Firecracker Flower
July 16, 2015
We live in the Tampa area of Florida. We planted Russelia equisetiformis under some palm trees 10 years ago. It has grown deep among the palm tree roots. We want to kill the Russelia without harming ...
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topicquestion

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