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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| Eliminating yuccas from yard in Woodinville, WA August 21, 2008 My plant areas are being overrun by Yucca plants. They are also growing and destroying my asphalt driveway. How can I get rid of some of them permanently? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Bugs on yucca plant in New Jersey August 06, 2008 I noticed small bugs ALL OVER 4 established yucca plants all near each other. They may look like Halticotoma valida but I'm not positive. There is no brown on the leaves except for the large amount... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Is Sedum recommended for a greenroof project in Houston July 23, 2008 Would you recommend using Sedum for a green roof project in Houston, Texas? Will the humidity effect the sedum? If sedum would be a poor choice, what would you recommend for Houston? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Texas natives to plant in July and August July 23, 2008 My husband and I have a disaster of a lawn that we were planning to develop slowly, over time, with a sustainable design we contracted from a landscape designer. However, we are having to move out of... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Large agave (century plant) flower stalk June 17, 2008 HI.I live in Blythe, Ca. and have a GIANT of an agave in my back yard. It is now over 40'high and is blooming. I first noticed the stock growing at Easter when it was about 12' high. It is now t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| What to do with bloom stalk on yucca June 08, 2008 Six years ago, I dug up two small narrow-leaf yuccas from a deer lease outside of Junction, Texas. I planted them in a raised bed in my yard and the smaller of the two survived and grew. To my surpris... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Landscaping on South Padre Island June 07, 2008 I'm in charge of landscaping at my beachfront condo in South Padre Island and find the wind, salt air, and heat challenging for growing almost anything. We would like to incorporate native plants, b... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Leaves turning black on Agave americana June 06, 2008 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants- We have a ~5-year-old agave americana that began to have leaves turn yellow (to black in some areas) just this past spring (2008). A neighbor's tree had started to overhang t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Trimming back Agave havardiana June 05, 2008 Hi.. thanks for all the great information on Agaves. We have a number of Agave Havardiana (blue) that love where we planted them. Several have gotten HUGE. So much so that they are starting to ge... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Mystery cactus in Williamson County, Texas May 27, 2008 We have a cactus plant on our place that I have not seen anywhere else in central Texas. The flowers are bright yellow with wine-red centers, but very sparse--only one flower blooms at a time. The p... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Bloom on non-native Agave attenuata May 13, 2008 I have an Agave Attenuata that has grown a long and unsightly stem.Is there a way to cut the plant portion off and re-root the plant without killing the petal portion? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants for pool area in Florida May 09, 2008 My husband and I have a pool with 4 planters and are looking for plants that we can put into our screened in pool area. We live in Central Florida and looking for ideas of plants that are slow growin... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Natural fibers for lashing bamboo in weaving May 07, 2008 I live in Austin and am looking for plants I can use for weaving fibers, e.g. lashing bamboo for a small project. What plants and parts do you recommend? What resources do you recommend for informatio... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Information about ice plant (Carpobrotus edulis) May 06, 2008 I recently planted some Carpobrotus edulis, Ice plant, and wanted to know if I can mulch or put stones around the entire garden and plants. They are a ground cover plant. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Possibly non-native succulent identification March 27, 2008 My mother has a plant that grows on a stalk, 2.5' tall, leaves are about 4-5" on the mature plant. The leaves are scalloped on the edges and seeds grown in the scallops & fall off and make new plan... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native plants for highlights in a cactus garden March 12, 2008 Hi, I'm looking for some groundcover (succulents or herbs), shrubs, and other perennials to plant along with the cactuses (20 or so) I got from the CDRI plant sale in Fort Davis. The most important ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Succulents for 9150 feet in New Mexico March 04, 2008 What succulents could grow in Angel Fire, New Mexico, at an altitude of 9150 ft.in a northwestern windy exposure in rocky-ish soil? Are there any that are perennials? Thank you. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Worms found in Agave used in tequila February 06, 2008 Hi, I am a writer and have been trying to find some referenced information regarding the moth larvae/'worms' associated with Agave and some mezcal beverages - specifically, Hypopta agavis, Aegiale ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Possibility of growing Buckleys yucca in South Carolina February 03, 2008 I live in Lexington, SC. I am wondering if I can grow Buckley's yucca (yucca constricta) here and if so, where can I purchase the seeds or plants? I am from Texas and we are trying to create a "we... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants that are deer resistant for high desert climate in Utah January 23, 2008 We are building in a high desert climate in Dammeron Valley, Utah. We want plants that are both deer resistant and require little watering. Can you advise which plants (shrubs, flowers, cacti) that ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Dying cactus plants December 16, 2007 Two large cactus plants on the grounds of our condominium complex have begun to turn yellow and appear to be dying. A "staple" of our landscaping, this is the first year that they have developed th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Removal of mature agaves November 20, 2007 Hello- we live in Austin, TX and have a bed of different varieties of agave. They are near the walkway to our house, and are so out of control they pose a hazard to our guests walking up to the house... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Identification of green succulent plant with red tubular flowers October 08, 2007 Hi there, i have this plant which is green,leaves are succulent, and these red tubular little flowers about an inch long grow rampantly all summer. i wanna know what it is called as i take cuttings a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Bloom stalks on agave plants September 26, 2007 Hi, We have Agave plants in our garden for years. But in the past few weeks, we noticed a giant asparagus looking thing growing out in the middle of the plants. We don't know what it is, but every d... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | | |
| New agave plants, offshoots of parent plant, transplanting September 16, 2007 I have different varieties of Agaves that are sending off new plants from the mother. Some have 1-2 and some have 6-7 plants. Is there a proper method for removing (cutting them a certain way) for t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
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