Native Plants
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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 | |
| Discouraging Poison Ivy June 27, 2015 Is there a fern that discourages poison ivy from growing? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Milky Substance on Salvia greggii June 26, 2015 The Salvia greggii that I have in the front yard has a milky substance on it ... and the plants are not doing well. Is this some kind of fungi or disease? What can I do to "cure" it? Thank you! Lia... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Need help with dying clumps of Cedar Sedge June 24, 2015 Carex planostachys. This grass was planted 2 years ago in light shade. It grew well until this year. Now some clumps are dying. Others in same area look fine. No insects can be detected. Why are... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Why are large numbers of leaves falling from my Live Oak trees in Driftwood, TX? June 24, 2015 Today is June 6, 2015 and I have noticed that for the last week and a half, only a few live oaks out of many, have been losing large numbers of green leaves and turning brown on the ground. I cannot ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Dying Damianita in Blanco, TX. June 18, 2015 My Damianita bloomed its heart out and since all the rain here in Blanco the biggest plants turned brown and look dead. I've trimmed back some and do see green stems. Will they come back? How far ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Various landscape problems in Omaha, NE. June 18, 2015 Thank you for your time, sorry i cant sort this out because my issue seems to fit many but also none of the issues I've read about. Some patches of grass in my lawn have yellow spots and dying and/or... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Red oak leaves have a swelling along the veins June 17, 2015 I have red oaks in my back yard, approx 30 or more have a disease that are wilting the leaves. Looking at the back of the leaf there is swelling along the spines. I've gone to one nursery in town ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Brown spots on native oak trees June 16, 2015 Hi, My native live oak trees are declining. The leaves have small brown spots that increase in size until the leaf dies and falls off, then the branch and then the entire limb. I have not watered the... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Why doesn't Diervilla lonicera bloom in Wisconsin? June 11, 2015 I have had a Diervilla lonicera in southeastern Wisconsin for at least 5 years. It has never bloomed. Why? It appears healthy. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Central branches on Texas Ash have died June 09, 2015 I have a Texas Ash tree that was planted about 4 years ago. It seemed fine last summer and was well watered. This spring, when it started leafing out, the central branches at the upper part of the tre... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Need help for my Texas Persimmon in Leander, TX. June 03, 2015 Help!! My Texas Persimmon is distressed with either bugs or infection. I'm not sure what to do. I wanted to insert a picture here, but wasn't able to. If there's a way for me to submit a picture... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Failure of TX bluebonnets to thrive May 28, 2015 We have had extraordinary luck with bluebonnets growing in our driveway of decomposed granite--until last year and this year. The bluebonnets seem to be drying up and wilting away. The ones in other a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Falling Balls from an Oak in Kingsland TX May 25, 2015 I have a large Live Oak in the back yard, with St. Augustine grass under it. It is April 3, 2015. The leaves have fallen and now little tiny round balls are falling. I am hearing a popping noise und... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Ostrya virginiana Compatible with Juglone May 17, 2015 Is Ostrya virginiana sensitive to juglone? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Willow Tree Early Leaf Fall May 14, 2015 I have a weeping willow tree and it put out great leaves this Spring and looked great, but now here in the middle of May all the leaves are turning yellow and falling off like it does in the fall. So ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Texas sage losing inner leaves May 14, 2015 I have a Texas Sage bush that on the outside is beautiful with green leaves. The inside branches (the middle) of the bush are bare of any leaves. Why? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Mountain Laurel suffering from Spring freeze May 12, 2015 I have a 4 1/2 ft Texas Mountain Laurel shrub in current location for several years. A hard freeze this spring killed every leaf on the tree, but the stems remained green. My other smaller Mt. Laure... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Need to know about little brown spots on Texas Mountain Laurel May 11, 2015 I have little brown spots on my Texas Mountain Laurel leaves. I can email you a picture if needed. What could it be and how can I help my little laurels work thru these spots? The texas mountain ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Elaeagnus sudden death in Waxahachie, TX May 11, 2015 I live in North Central Texas and have eleagnus planted along my fence in full sun. Last year one dropped all it's leafs and died. The same is happening to one beside it this year. I have sprayed ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Shade Loving Plants for Under a Black Walnut Tree in Rochester, NY. May 09, 2015 Please advise on plants that will grow in the shade under a black walnut tree in Rochester, NY. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Stressed Ashe juniper is dropping needles May 07, 2015 We have a large Ashe juniper tree in our backyard, at least 20 ft tall. This past winter/spring, several limbs have died and it's dropped a ton of leaves (clumps of "needles" really). Is it slowly ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Effect of heavy rains on Lindheimer Muhly May 04, 2015 It is April 2015, in San Antonio we've had very heavy rains recently. My Lindheimer muhly, which was looking beautiful, has now turned brown all over. Is this normal or is this a problem? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Carolina buckthorn and Neem Oil Spray Damage April 27, 2015 It's April, I have a Carolina buckthorn that seemed to be doing well, about 8 feet tall, about 2 years old in part shade. It was putting out new leaves about a month ago and seemed to have infestati... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Ground Arizona ash wood suitable for mulch? April 23, 2015 We cut down a 40 year old Arizona ash tree and had the stump ground into mulch. Can we use this mulch in our vegetable garden and flower beds View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Teucrium resistant to Verticillium Wilt? April 20, 2015 Is Teucrium frutescans, or Bush Germander resistant to Verticillium Wilt? I cannot find it on a list anywhere. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
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