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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| topic | question | |
| Checklist of native plants March 03, 2008 I have recently submitted my membership. I would like to know if there is a complete list of wildflowers, that one may check off as they are seen, such as the birders check off their lifetime list. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| How do plants living in various climates differ? February 25, 2008 Do plants that live in different climates have different tecture or are they just totally different? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| The most important part of growing plants. February 21, 2008 In your opinion what is the most important part of growing plants. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Why is water used for plants. February 19, 2008 Why is water the most popular thing for watering plants if is so plain? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Withering plants recover with water February 17, 2008 Why do withering plants stand up when you give them water? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| USDA Plant Hardiness Zone of Haskell, TX February 17, 2008 What region are we in --- Haskell, Tx. (Between Abilene and Wichita Falls) View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Looking for leaves of milkweed plants for experiment February 09, 2008 I am an undergraduate chemistry student at the University of Portland and want to perform an experiment using milkweed leaves. How would I get milkweed leaves at this time of year? Any help you can p... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Thickness of liquid when growing plants February 09, 2008 Q: Does the thickness of liquid matter when growing plants? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Effect of epsom salts and gray water on plants December 04, 2007 We live in Phoenix where water is a precious commodity. We have decided to use as much of the gray water as we can for watering our garden, shrubs and trees. One of the suggestions we heard about w... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants killed by frost October 31, 2007 In a frost why do flowers etc. die where grass will not die? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Information about glucose concentration in plants for Science Fair project October 24, 2007 I am a high school student enrolling in science fair. MY topic is as follows, "Can a plant be removed from the sun and put in dark and still survive if I directly inject glucose into the stem/roots (... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Century plant dying after bloom August 12, 2007 My century plant is so tall that it is up to the top of the telephone pole top lines that carry our streets electric. I was wanting to know if you knew if I cut the stock off would it save the plant ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Correct spelling of Passiflora caerulea August 07, 2007 What is correct, passiflora coerulea or caerulea ? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Percentage of flowers that close up at night July 19, 2007 Percentage-wise, approximately how many species of flowers close up at night? Is there a list anywhere? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Percentage of worlds flowers of each color July 14, 2007 What percentage of the world's flowers are blue? red? white? yellow? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Where do plants grow? June 23, 2007 Where do plants grow? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Inducing flowering out of season June 22, 2007 We are currently conducting research on insect transmission of a plant virus to flowering weeds. Is there a process to trick biennials into flowering in their first year? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Identification of first flower on Earth June 14, 2007 When was the first on Earth and who find it and what was the name of the flower. Also what part of the Earth was if find? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Herbarium locations for Bifora americana May 12, 2007 Dr Hampton: I am trying to find specific locations of populations of Bifora americana (prairie bishop). Apparently, many collections of this species have been made in the Dallas-Ft Worth area as we... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Identification of Cryptomeria japonica for homeowners association May 09, 2007 Good morning. We are wondering if Cryptomeria japonica trees can fit under the term "pine like". We used the term pine like when asking for our home owners associations approval and we put in a Cr... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| 20 years to bloom May 02, 2007 My girlfriend and i have come up with an interesting question, we were wondering if there is a plant in existance that takes over 20 years to bloom, and how many different kinds (if any) there are? We... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Native plants that will grow under alleopathic black walnut March 03, 2007 I have a large, beautiful black walnut tree in my yard and have trouble growing the annuals, begonia, impatients, etc., that I have always grown. They don't do well in the ground and I have resorted... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants that might absorb moisture from air February 27, 2007 I am searching for a plant that will reduce the relative humidity of a building. I work for a manufacturing company that is experiencing problems with water condensing on ceilings and equipment due t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Alleotrophic effects of caffeine found in Ilex species January 24, 2007 I'm doing research for my biology class on the alleotrophic effects of caffeine. I'm planning to use Ilex vomitoria as the caffeine-producing plant. As the control I want to use another non-c... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Definition of what constitutes a native plant January 23, 2007 Hello, I am doing research concerning "native plants" for the Northeast. I am "befuddled" as I am finding conflicting definitions for what constitutes a native plant. Do you have a good definiti... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Mechanism for Cenizo bush blooming before rain October 04, 2006 Why does cenizo (aka barometer bush) bloom before it rains? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Books on Lilies August 27, 2006 Dear Sir, I am looking for a book covering the Lily Family as a whole, i.e., it should preferably also discuss other Genera than Lilium only. I am especially interested in Lily members occurring in t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Contacts with botanical illustrators July 16, 2006 I am interested in preparing 3D (stereoscopic) illustrations of plants and flowers. Can you give some contacts with botanical illustrators for guidance? Are there any guidelines about botanical illust... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Drawings of Illinois native wildflowers July 15, 2006 I am looking for line drawings of Illinois Native Wildflowers to use for educational material for visitors to our new City Park. We plan to have signs throughout the park describing how Native Americ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants adding calcium to soil June 08, 2006 Hi, I am looking for a resource to help determine the functions of native plants. For instance, nitrogen fixing can be found in Indigo, Lead plant, lupines. Are there other plants that add back cal... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Why do sunflowers turn towards the sun? February 27, 2006 Why do sunflowers turn towards the sun? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Effectiveness of house plants for removing household air pollution January 30, 2006 I have heard that there is a combination of house plants that will increase the oxgyen in your home. Could you please tell me the names of these plants? I think there are a group of four of them. ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Mycotrophic plants that develop underground for years in Alabama January 10, 2006 I recently heard someone say that there was a plant that took seven years to grow. They stated that the seed is in the ground but it begins the growth under ground but does not come to the surface for... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Consequences of leaving geranium in dark room December 18, 2005 What would happen to a geranium plant that was left to grow in a dark room for many days? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Possible reasons for yellow heads for Indian Blanket December 13, 2005 I had Indian Blanket flowers that had almost pure yellow heads. Will the seeds of these flowers produce plants that will have yellow flowers? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Process of transpiration in plants November 21, 2005 I'm in 6th grade and I have a science project to do and the question is, Do living plants give off moisture. The first part of my project is to explain how living plants give off moisture. I've chec... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on science projects October 24, 2005 Hello, i am a 6th grade student at a middle school in GA. I am doing a science project and my question is, "Does music affect plant growth?" Is there a plant that would work best for me to experiment... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on temperature October 18, 2005 Mr.Smarty Plants, I am a student at Hill Freedman Middle school and I have a science fair coming up. I really need a answer to this question "What effect does temperature have on the growth of plants... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on forbs October 16, 2005 What kind of plant is a forb? I see the term used frequently in reference to grasses (I think), but I can't figure out exactly what a forb is. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Monocarpic plants for Indiana October 06, 2005 We were in Hawaii this summer and became acquainted with the Silversword. This plant (according to what we were told) blooms only once in it's lifetime (of 50-70 years). Are you aware of any other pl... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on air purification September 14, 2005 What plant purifies the air? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on Science Fair projects September 13, 2005 I would like to know what kind of plants can grow in two weeks? Please answer quickly so I can do my Science Fair project. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on Wildflowerology July 08, 2005 I know there is a word for everything, but I can't find the offical word for the study of wildflowers. Wildflowerology just doesn't sound right. Can you help? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on cell elongation June 09, 2005 Why do plants grow faster in the dark? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Copper beech May 12, 2005 Hi, I work for a youth camp in southeastern Pennsylvania. The property for the camp was purchased from a farmer in 1958. The farmer was a collecter of unusual trees and one of the trees on our prop... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native plant initiatives for universities in Southeast U.S. April 26, 2005 Hello, I am an undergraduate student majoring in botany at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, TN. I am a native plant enthusiast and would like to promote n.p.'s on campus. Do you kn... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on spines April 09, 2005 What do you call part of a plant that is needle-like or has spikes or bristles? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Genetics reason for color variation in Indian paintbrush April 03, 2005 Are the color variations in Indian paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa) a matter of genetic mutation or minerals in the soil? I say it's genetic and the rest of the family says it's environmental. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Smarty Plants on Hypogon March 22, 2005 How many sides does a hypogon have? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on aceae March 21, 2005 How is the family suffix "-aceae", as in Asteraceae, pronounced? I find disagreeing claims in my searches- "ay-see-ee" and "ay-see-ay" seem to be the most common, but I've also seen just "ay-... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on plant names March 16, 2005 I want to learn what the scientific names of plants indicate about the plant physiology, its namer, its evolutionary relation to other plants, etc. Could you give a print or web source for looking up ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Definition of a weed April 22, 2003 What is your definition of a weed? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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