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 | |
| Ruffly foliage on native lantana November 05, 2013 A native lantana in my front yard has developed ruffly foliage on one stem. It looks like miniature broccoli. What can this be? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Non-native jade plants and spider plants beneath Mayberry tree in Bay Point CA October 15, 2013 I have a fruitless Mayberry in my back yard that's about 50/50' can I plant jade and spider plants under it? The tree is very healthy. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Pink wildflowers on DFW runways in April-June October 10, 2013 I fly thru DFW quite often and have noticed in April-June timeframe the runways are dotted with a light pink colored wildflower. Have asked the DFW Customer Service folks for the name, ones I've ask... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Plant identification of thorny shrub in Tennessee October 03, 2013 I have a mid to dark green thorny type bush growing on my land in Cosby, Tennessee. I am originaly from NJ and I have never seen it before. The stalk is varigated and the thorns are plentiful and very... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Starting shade-tolerant ground covers in New York September 10, 2013 Hi, I have seen some of the posts for shade-tolerant ground cover on the east end of Long Island and my question is process related. Now that I've identified the grasses/plants I need to keep my fro... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Trees for clay soil from Charlotte TX August 25, 2013 We have an area in our yard that even Esperanzas won't grow. It is near another that does great. Six Esperanzas are planted in a north/south row about with 10' between plants, the southern most plan... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Identity of purple-leafed plant in formal garden in Quebec City August 23, 2013 I saw a plant in a formal garden in Quebec City that was low growing with purple leaves and clusters of deep purple pods/seeds about the size of grapes. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Shriveling agave from Miami Florida August 23, 2013 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, Most upset - My beautiful agave (wish I could have submitted an image) has stared to misbehave. The once first liquid filled leaves, are starting to look more like the skin ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Plants to replace Polygonum cuspidatum ( Japanese knotweed) August 10, 2013 I live in a heavily wooed area of Chippewa Falls, WI. Our property is covered with Giant Japanese Knot Weed. We have been trying to get rid of it for years. We are finally going to try using the dr... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Growing conditions for Giant Coneflower from San Antonio August 09, 2013 Rudbeckia maxima is considered to be a perennial plant for the sun but I have had a difficult time maintaining it in a pot in full sun before attempting to plant. Do you feel that it will survive and... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problem with Habiturf. Is it dormant or dead? July 24, 2013 We planted habiturf in spring 2012. It's beautiful. But since last summer, we have had one area that seems to go dormant much more rapidly than the rest, even though it receives the same amount of ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problem with unknown tree in Austin, Texas July 23, 2013 Have recently moved to Austin, Texas and have a tree in my backyard that has been dropping leaves and one major branch appears to be dead. That branch has hard rust colored sap circles (about penny si... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Sudden death of one side of Mountain Laurel from Canyon Lake TX July 22, 2013 Hello! We live in Canyon Lake TX and have a Mountain Laurel that is in distress. It is planted in an irrigated flower bed and has been happily growing for 5 years. It is about 5' tall and has sever... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Halophytic biofilter plants native to Wisconsin July 12, 2013 I am trying to design a biofilter using native WI plants. These plants must be very salt tolerant and low maintenance (as this biofilter will be used to treat storm water runoff from a salt shed), so ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Leaf drop from live oaks in mid-summer July 08, 2013 We have a live oak that is starting to drop a considerable amount of leaves here in early July in Cypress Texas. Its a mature tree with a base diameter of 12-14" and 25-30' tall. We live in a subd... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant identification of vine with fluffy-seeded pod July 05, 2013 I saw a fluffy seeded pod on our hike this morning. I have seen this vine before, but do not know the proper and scientific name of it. Its leaves appear to be opposite and heart shaped. Could it be a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| How to Control White Fungus on Prickly Pear Cactus? July 04, 2013 Is there any kind of spray for our prickly pear that will help with the white fungus that has appeared on it? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Privacy hedge for Palm Springs CA July 04, 2013 Dear Mr. Smarty Pants I have a 6 foot block wall, and my house is elevated, and I need a privacy hedge or tree (even flowering) to create more privacy. I do not want to use Ficus as I hear they can d... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Can oleander poison the ground below it? June 29, 2013 Can oleander poison the ground below it? Would it kill/damage grass or other plants below it? Thanks. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Use of Turffalo in Possum Kingdom TX June 27, 2013 Hello, we will be building a retirement home in the hillside area of Possum Kingdom Lake which currently has cactus, cedar, and some live oaks. Our intention is to keep most of the 8 acres natural wi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Spots on calycanthus petals from Buckley WA June 20, 2013 Petals on calycanthus develop black spots the turn into holes. Problem appears shortly after buds open. Occurs every year. Foliage is healthy. Plant growing well and doubles or triples size every ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Pruning Ageratina havenensis from Magnolia TX June 18, 2013 I planted a Eupatorium havanense last year here in the last sandy finger of the piney woods; it gets full sun in a well-drained raised bed, where it flowered well. I pruned it fairly close, and it cam... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| What's invading my bermuda grass? June 11, 2013 Our grass is being totally overrun by this weed.(I don't know what the name is identify it by the description. It is in Bermuda grass and the only way to describe the weed is to say it looks like big... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Asphalt beneath surface of soil in Austin June 03, 2013 About 3-4 inches below the surface of our yard is what appears to be asphalt. It comes out in chunks a few inches across and it's all about 1.5 inches thick. I have no idea what it is; my best guess ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Fruit crops to grow in Tennessee mountains May 27, 2013 My property has a lot of rock formations throughout it and has hundreds of cedars where it is not pasture. I am wanting to grow fruit trees and berry bushes but don't know what can grow in this e... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Planting Texas Persimmon in enclosed planter from San Angelo TX May 23, 2013 I want to plant a Texas Persimmon (in West Texas) in an enclosed planter 4' X 4' X 2.5' deep. What would be a good planting medium. Does it need to be deeper? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| How to deal with suckers on Flame-leaf Sumac May 20, 2013 Hi! It seems you can have too much of a good thing! Our flameleaf sumac is taking over our yard. There are multiple shoots appearing in our flower beds and in the lawn. How do I get rid of the unwante... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Identity of an Astragalus species near Terlingua, TX May 14, 2013 I have been photographing as many of the wildflowers that I can this Spring 2013 season here in the Big Bend Area between BBNP, Terlingua and Alpine, TX. Two days ago I took a drive from Terlingua to ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Grey Goo Coming from red Oak in Manchaca TX May 13, 2013 I have a large Red Oak in my yard that appears to be weeping some sort of grey goo from parts of the trunk. What is this goo and do I need to treat it and if so how? I'm happy to come by the Wildflow... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Mealy blue sage drooping from Canyon Lake TX May 07, 2013 Mealy Blue Sage @ 4 ft Tall - Planted three Mealy Blue Sage last year and they topped out at 2 ft tall. This year they are 4 ft tall in early May, and many of the stems are growing near horizontal... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Black chokeberry edible from Huntsville ON May 04, 2013 Can the fruit of the black chokeberry be eaten?? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Is any part of Mountain Laurel poisonous to goats from Belton TX May 02, 2013 We are considering planting Mountain Laurel in a field where we keep goats. Will any part of the Mountain Laurel be poisonous if eaten by the goats? If it would be poisonous, could you suggest some o... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Vines for Shade in Upstate New York April 23, 2013 Hello! I am looking for a non-invasive vine that will grow in heavy shade near my house in upstate New York. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Horse pasture seeds from Pawling NY April 19, 2013 We are getting ready to seed an area to be used as horse pasture some time in the future. What seed mix should we use to create an organic horse pasture in Pawling, NY. Ideally there would be some wil... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Mutation in bluebonnets from Elgin TX April 16, 2013 What causes bluebonnets to mutate..grow as if three or four are combined into one flower on one very flat, wide stem. I have these in my yard; they are beautiful! I have taken several pictures. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Trees for property in Nevada April 06, 2013 Mr. Smarty Plants: I would like to plant trees in between Crepe Myrtles than put up a fence along the paved road. The temperature ranges from 27'F to 130'F. It is a full sun all day and I will i... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Slow development in Shumard Oak from Porter TX April 02, 2013 We had two Shumard Oaks Planted in Sept of last year (2012). About a month later, they started browning and dropping their leaves (no color change). Now I noticed on one of the trees the buds have sta... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Apples, pears and geraniums in Kipling, Saskatchewan March 30, 2013 My geranium's leaves became yellow - Why? Where can I buy a good nice apple tree? Will apples and pears grow in south Saskatchewan? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Memorial Tree Safe for Horses in Oregon March 28, 2013 Hi! I just lost my 33 year old beloved mare, Glory! She was my childhood horse and we have had her basically her whole life. We are looking for a special tree out in the pasture for her! She is bu... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants to grow in shady area near a pecan tree in Maryland March 26, 2013 I live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I have planted only natives in my front lawn. My backyard, which sports a pecan tree, fir, fig tree, and others I can't identify is dirt, just dirt. I have... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problems with Monterrey Oak in Austin March 26, 2013 We had a local tree service plant two Monterrey Oak trees on 4/2/2012. At the time we noticed that woodpeckers had had a field day on the trunk bark of both trees with the most damage being on the lar... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Identification of tiny blue flower blooming in February March 18, 2013 There is a very small four petal flower that appears near the end of Winter. (This year they appeared in late Feb). These little flowers are a "Light Blueish" hue. They are around a quarter inch ac... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| How to tell the difference between native and non-native thistles March 13, 2013 It's thistle time already. There are many plants in the aster family with thistle in their common name. Are "real" thistles only those in the genus Cirsium, or are there others as well? We are tryi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Bringing Non-native Cannas out of Winter Storage February 15, 2013 Mr. Smarty Plants - Is it possible to force canna tubers? Would placing them on a heating pad help? I am in Ohio - zone 5. Thank you View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Unrecognized grass in Habiturf from Spicewood TX February 07, 2013 I purchased 2 bags of Habiturf from the Wildflower Center and planted it in late September. Now, early February, the predominant grass is not any of the 3 supposed components of the Habiturf, but look... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Hardiness of Acerola bush for Conway AR January 25, 2013 How far north can you grow an Acerola bush? I live in Conway, AR, which is north of Little Rock.We used to be Zone 7, but now we are on the edge of Zone 8, I believe. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Need suggestion for a replacement tree in Dallas, TX. January 23, 2013 We are going to have a 25' tall tree removed and ground out because every year squirrels chew the branches and make huge piles on the deck and into the pool. This continues for a good month 1.5. Hen... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Where can white prickly poppy be viewed en mass from Baton Rouge LA? January 16, 2013 Does the center feature the native White Prickly Poppy? When is prime blooming season? Can you give me some specific locations in the area where the plant can be seen en mass and photographed? Thank... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Native Plants for Shaded North Slope in Ohio January 03, 2013 I have a shaded north hillside which needs erosion control plants. Mostly moss and very thin grass grows there now. Please help! View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Prickly pear doing poorly on Long Island NY December 27, 2012 First, thanks for your reply on 11-3-12, re.Can a prickly pear cutting from Harker Heights, TX find happiness in Long Island, NY. The plants were set before a southern window in the attic, temp. ra... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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