Native Plants
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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 | |
| Native vs. invasive photosynthesis and CO2 exchange. June 27, 2008 My group is conducting an experiment on invasive and native plants in Valdosta, Georgia. Are invasive plant species better adapted to live in Valdosta than native plant species? How do invasive specie... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Non-branching mimosa tree June 26, 2008 I have a Mimosa Tree, just about 2 years old, grown from seed. The problem with it is that it has not branched out, it looks like one long branch growing out of the ground, about 5 feet if stood strai... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Non-blooming wisteria in Oklahoma June 24, 2008 I have a wisteria bush that doesn't bloom. It's two years old. What should I do? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Evergreen hedge for constant rain June 24, 2008 We live in Washington State up north by Canadian border. We need a hedge that will survive the constant rain. We have tried cedar. They seem to turn brown and die,one at a time so we keep replacing th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Taproot tree to replace willows by pool June 23, 2008 Installing Pool with bomanite decking all around it. We're in process of cutting down 18 year old Weeping Willow due to root invasiveness and small messy leaves. Can you recommend a good shade tree w... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Invasiveness of wild petunia in Austin June 15, 2008 Is the wild petunia in the data base as invasive/aggressive as the more common ruellia? In other words, will it pop up everywhere? Ruellia nudiflora (Engelm. & Gray) Urban Common wild petunia, Vi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Growing bluebonnets in England June 08, 2008 I'm sending some bluebonnet seeds to Norwich England to a dear friend. What time of year should she plant them? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Elimination of nutgrass May 06, 2008 Nutgrass has taken over my vegetable and perennial garden to the point that I can not see my plants or granite sand paths. The two major areas are about 600 square feet in total. What can I do to co... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Brown, dry leaves on weeping willow tree May 01, 2008 We live in central TX and have just planted a weeping willow tree. Our back yard has a retention pond and ravine that parallels our property and we were told that the weeping willow will do perfectly ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Do Salvia coccinea and Salvia occidentalis occur in Hawaii April 27, 2008 Aloha, Would you please happen to know if the salvia occidentalis and the salvia coccinea are growing in a wild state in Hawaii, the quantity (small or large areas? What are the weather conditions ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Use of chemicals for eradicating invasive plants April 24, 2008 Re: Round Up We are extremely reluctant to use any chemical agents in our yard (or around our home) due to environmental & ecological reasons... However, we are becoming inundated with several ver... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native plants for southwest exposure in Tulsa OK April 24, 2008 I want to plant something in a bed on the South side of my house with some Western exposure. The space is in a bed that would share space with a Red Tip Photinia (next to the house)& liriope( on the ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Organic means for ridding garden of stinging ants April 18, 2008 Dear Mr. Smarty Pants, I have a butterfly garden that is filled with native plants the butterflies LOVE! However I have a colony of red ants that have moved in. I need to trim some of the more inva... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Use of kudzu in landscaping April 11, 2008 HELLO MR.SMARTY PlANTS,my question is , I need a # of kudzu plants to grow quickly for a huge bare back wall since we are selling our house & have zero anything back there.we are getting comments that... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Information about empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa) March 07, 2008 I have an Empress Tree, 3 yrs old, and the limbs grow straight out from the trunk about 2-3ft and then grow straight upward. When do they start to grow outward for a canopy?? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Name of the rough-barked mimosa (Albizia kalkora) February 12, 2008 I read two years ago that there was two different mimosa trees one that is common and has the smooth bark and the other one had a rough bark. I am Interested in the one who has the rough bark and the ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| How to eradicate chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata) February 10, 2008 How do I get rid of a invasive ground covering plant called Camelion without hurting the ground so I can plant something else? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Identification of lantanas safe for use in Florida February 10, 2008 Why do you list lantana camara as a native to the U.S. and as a native plant in Florida? It is a category one invasive exotic on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council's list of invasive exotics. La... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Official list of invasive plants in Texas. January 25, 2008 Is there an "official" invasive / noxious weed list for Texas? I have found several lists, but I wanted to know if there was one truly accepted list for Texas. If not, what would be the #1 list yo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Viability of Ehretia anacua tree for Austin, TX January 17, 2008 I live in Austin, TX and I see you've recommended the Ehretia anacua tree for someone living here. Also, my arborist mentioned it as a replacement for non-native, invasive trees. However, the databas... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Control of English ivy November 27, 2007 I need to know if there is a way to kill, or contain, English Ivy that was planted as groundcover next door. Despite my discouragement, my next door neighbor planted English Ivy as groundcover all alo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| How to get rid of devils club (Oplopanax horridus) November 22, 2007 please tell me how to get rid of devils club!!! View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Control of King Ranch Bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum) November 21, 2007 What is the best way to get rid of King Ranch Grass (an invasive plant) on my half acre property? I felt like mowing just encouraged more seed heads to pop up. 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 |  | |
| Help for restoring landscape to indigenous native plants November 05, 2007 I have inherited some acres in Robertson County (Texas) which is about 40 miles north of Bryan/College Station. I would like to restore the landscape to the indigenous native plants without just lett... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Destroying seeds of Chinaberry tree October 23, 2007 I have a "chinaberry" tree in my yard, and while I understand that it is an invasive plant to Texas, I was hoping to save the large mature tree. As an effort to be more responsible I have been coll... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Landscaping in the Southern California desert. October 16, 2007 We are located in southern California in Lake Havasu. I'm trying to landscape sloping areas. I have arrow weeds (Pluchea sericea) and want to get rid of them permanently. How can I achieve this or... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Chinaberry trees coming up volunteer October 14, 2007 I have several chinaberry trees that have sprouted after my neighbor trimmed his tree. I have cut these trees down to the ground a couple of times, but they just send out new shoots. Any idea on how... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Elimination of nutgrass from native flower bed October 14, 2007 Nutgrass!*#!* My new bed in NE Austin wraps around a hot sunny SW street corner. Grass wouldn't grow there [I wouldn't water it.] I removed the turf [mostly stickers] to a depth of about 4", carefu... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Controlling invasives and using natives in New Hampshire October 09, 2007 What ideas would you have for marrying the subjects of native plants and invasives? This summer I volunteered to work with our town planner and recycling director on a new initiative called SNIP-IT!: ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Removing St. Augustine, replacing with native plants October 06, 2007 Hello Mr. Smarty Plants, always excited to talk to the Green Guru himself. I've recently purchased a house in South Austin and am interested in establishing a small, 500+ sq ft, prairie grass and wi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Possibility of camas being raised in Edmonton, Alberta September 18, 2007 I live in Edmonton, Alberta, and wish to find out how "Camassia (leichtlinii white) will fare in this zone. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Flashing barrier to Bermuda in tree bed September 16, 2007 I'm building a 6-ft-diameter planting bed on a gentle slope on blackland clay, at the center of which I plan to install a cedar elm. I'm using the wedge-shaped stones from the home-improvement stor... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Removal of invasive non-native Chinese wisteria September 10, 2007 I am going to be removing my ubiquitous chinese wisteria very soon (the method I'm going to use is undetermined). If I decide to use Round-up on the cut-stem (which may take more than one application... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native alternatives for Chinest pistache September 06, 2007 We live just outside Kerrville on a lot with shallow soil over rock. We have built a raised bed for a shade tree and were considering a Chinese Pistache. However, I have since heard that they don't... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Oxalis crassipes identification July 23, 2007 I'm trying to identify a plant that has appeared in several containers on my balcony. The largest plant is about a foot tall, with triangular leaves, small white flowers with yellow centers, and has... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Fast growing, possibly invasive trees for South Carolina July 12, 2007 What fast growing trees would you suggest for South Carolina? We are heavy clay and the pecan trees we planted don't see to be too happy here. We are looking at the yellow poplar and the empress tre... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Maintenance of Blue grama in early stages July 06, 2007 I am seeding my large back yard with blue grama - 30-45 minutes of almost daily hand weeding for two months keeps me from falling too far behind on the green foxtail, bindweed, elm tree seedlings, pig... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Percentage of plants native to U.S. June 22, 2007 About 50% of the plant species in Hawaii are naturalized, invasive, aliens (from other places). What are equivalent statistics for the lower 48 states (continental US) as a whole? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Privacy plantings to replace invasive bamboo June 22, 2007 We are looking for good screening plants for our new house (the houses are very close). We like the way bamboo looks it is tall and narrow for the most part, but we do not want bamboo since it is inv... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Toxicity and invasiveness of Scarlet Wisteria May 04, 2007 I recently purchased seeds for Scarlet Wisteria (Chinese rattlebox tree). I spoke to a neighbor about this and she warned me not to plant them as they were poisonous to hummingbirds. Can you clarify... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Identification and replacement of chinaberry tree (Melia azedarach) April 24, 2007 I am trying to identify and locate a native tree. We live in Fairview, near Allen, Texas. It is in bloom now. It has fragrant small lavender 5 petal flowers in clusters. They develop into yellow/t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Possibility of consuming Rapistrum rugosum April 21, 2007 Reference: "Bastard Cabbage" (Rapistrum rugosum) Garden section of Austin American-Statesman (April 7, 2007) speaks of this weed. As a child, my parents used to pick, cook and eat this weed at the ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Introduced invasive Melia azedarach along Shoal Creek in Austin April 17, 2007 Along the Shoal Creek Trail in Austin are many flowering trees with sparse clusters of small pink/purple, star-shaped flowers with a dark red center stalk, blooming now in April. They have a fragrance... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Control of Acacia escaping cultivation in California March 26, 2007 My backyard has been overrun by acacia shrubs. How and what can I do to permanently rid the area of this weed? I hold an agricultural QAL so I have access to herbicides if there are effective ones a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Invasive common giant mustard March 14, 2007 I have been seeing a lot of a small shrubby plants with yellow flowers all over Austin, mainly along roadsides. Back in my day the first wildflowers of Spring were the paintbrushes and the bluebonnets... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Avoiding planting Indian Paintbrush in Hawaii because of invasiveness March 01, 2007 My daughter is living in Hilo, Hawaii. For her birthday, her boyfriend ordered her some Indian Paintbrush seeds. Trying to be sure she grows them correctly in a pot, she found instructions that say ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Control methods for Cenchrus spinifex, Coastal sandbur September 22, 2006 I have some of the nicest, thickest, greenest grassburs in the county of Erath. What is the best and quickest way to get rid of them? I have heard of a product called cornmeal gluten. Any info appreci... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Lists of edible plants in region of Pennsylvania for school project September 12, 2006 Please Help! I'm a grade four teacher in Philadelphia. My students and I are assigned a theme project that involves listing edible plants that grow in our region. Can you recommend a web site(s)... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Management practices to eradicate Johnson grass September 02, 2006 Please suggest some eradication methods for Johnson grass. It is established in a field that I want to encourage native wildflowers/plants such as goldenrod, prairie coneflower, blue eyed grass, milkw... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Control of Roosevelt weed in Hays County, TX August 29, 2006 Roosevelt weed is rapidly taking over the ranchette which we have purchased in Hays County. Any suggestions for reducing or eliminating its presence will be appreciated. Thanks. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Disposal of bulbs to control Arrowhead aquatic plant August 29, 2006 How can I kill Arrowhead permanently? I have sprayed repeated years with Roundup, Crossbow, etc., but the arrowhead comes back from the bulb the next year! View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Invasive definition kalanchoe pinnata June 05, 2006 The plant Kalanchoe pinnata is listed as being invasive. What does that mean? Is it a weed or does it interefere with metropolitan plumbing? (root system) View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Conversion of patch of bermuda grass to native perennial garden in Texas March 20, 2006 My wife and I want to take a section of our front lawn that is currently in Bermuda grass and plant some native perennials with lots of flowers. The area will be a quarter-circle in a corner of the la... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Inadvisability of importing plants from one region to another March 03, 2006 I wonder if you could help me. I want to send my friends some conifer trees from England to Florida USA. I went on the Department of Agriculture site and they recommended your site for questions. Than... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| About Salvia superba January 09, 2006 About 10 years ago, nurseries were offering a small salvia, called salvia superba or meadow sage. A few years later, "May Night" and "Blue Hill" appeared on the market similar to this first sal... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on vitex May 12, 2005 I recently purchased a vitex tree and I don't know anything about it other that it blooms. Can you tell me everything there is about this tree? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Methods of controlling poison ivy April 19, 2005 What do you suggest for controlling poison oak (ivy)? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Where is marijuana plant native? April 03, 2005 In what part of the world is the marijuana plant native? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Removal of invasive mints March 30, 2005 How do I remove common mint from my garden? I removed the previous years plants and tilled the soil. This year they came back more than before. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Science project on invasive plants in American Samoa September 23, 2004 What is an experiment I can do on invasive plant species for a science project? What are some main invasive plant species found in American Samoa? Where can I go to find more information on invasive ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on Invasive Plants June 22, 2004 What is an invasive plant? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on native plants March 26, 2004 What is a native species? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants Exotic Species March 26, 2004 What is an Exotic Species? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants Exotic Species March 26, 2004 What Makes an Exotic Species Invasive? (When is a Guest a Pest?) View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on Invasive Plants March 26, 2004 How many plants are invasive? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on Invasive Plants March 26, 2004 How bad are invasive species? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on invasive and exotic plant species March 26, 2004 Where can I go to learn more about invasive and exotic plant species? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Smarty Plants on Invasive Plants March 15, 2004 How can I find out if a plant is federally listed as an invasive? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Information on non-native, invasive pampas grass February 12, 2004 Our neighborhood is doing a community landscaping project and pampas grass has been suggested. Is there a good article related to invasives that specifically mention pampas grass? 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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