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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| 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 |  | |
| Does Nolina lindheimeriana have separate male and female plants June 30, 2013 RE: NOLINA LINDHEIMERIANA You show several pictures, with flowers & with seed pods. I have one plant that has only flowers and one that has only seed pods. Are they male and female? I don't see ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Do the male or female dogwoods have berries? June 11, 2013 Does the male or female dogwood have berries? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problem With Vegetable Garden Soil June 09, 2013 We live in Liberty Hill on 25 acres and we are working to restore native grasses and plants. We are ardent supporters of the Wildflower center. I say this because my question is not "typical" of wh... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Blooming but not berrying American bittersweet from Pendleton IN May 29, 2013 I have had a bittersweet plant for years, it blooms but not berries. How do I tell if it is male or female so I can buy the opposite? It is currently blooming. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Differences in prostrate Mimosa species May 27, 2013 There are apparently a lot of little pink puffy-flowered prostrate plants with thorny stems and sensitive leaves: Mimosa microphylla, Mimosa roemeriana, Mimosa strigillosa. How does one tell them apar... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| What are the native plants in Kerrville, Texas? May 22, 2013 What are the native plants in Kerrville, Texas? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Fragrant Texas wildflowers April 10, 2013 Hello! I am researching native Texas wildflowers and I am looking specifically for flowers with a pleasing aroma. Is there anyone who has made a list that includes how the flowers smell? Do you kno... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native vs Non-native Insect Host Plants March 14, 2013 My understanding of a host plant is that it is a plant that an insect will lay its eggs on. Is this correct? If this is so then can a cultivar be a host plant for the same insect? I have read Mr. Doug... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Experiment to detect presence of sugar in cellulose from Routt CO January 28, 2013 My teacher ask me to plan an experiment to detect the presence of sugar in cellulose. I know that cellulose are abundant at the stem, and sugar here is glucose. I wonder how to conduct this experiment... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Failure of flameleaf sumacs to produce fruit January 09, 2013 Our two flame leaf sumacs produce none to little fruit. Both are about 4 years old, quite large, healthy looking; flowering this year was very good, but no fruit. What keeps them from producing fruit? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Seaweed seed dispensers in Long Island, NY January 03, 2013 Several months ago, we found what are probably seaweed seed dispensers. They are dark brown, hard, four sharp points,section where it would have connected to the main plant and an open hole where the... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Comments on white-flowered Mountain Laurel from Austin December 23, 2012 Following up on the August 23, 2012, question from Driftwood about the white-flowering mountain laurel, I have found a few more leads to explore. First, there are four more images of white-flowering m... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Liquid glucose as substitute for sunlight from New York City December 16, 2012 I am curious to find out whether liquid glucose can be poured as water for mung bean plants as substitute for no sunlight. Is the possible? Will a specific amount of glucose need to be used? Can liqui... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Dyes from native North American plants November 29, 2012 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I have been working as a textile designer for many years and am now interested in harvesting native North American plants in order to create natural dyes. Which plant ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Fasciation on Texas Mountain Laurel November 21, 2012 Do Texas Mountain Laurel normally have a staghorn looking growth hanging on them after blooming in addition to the seed pod clusters or could this be a mutation? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Native New Jersey plants to remove iron water from Lawrenceville NJ October 20, 2012 Are there any native New Jersey plants that can remove iron water View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Information about prickly pear cactus for school project October 19, 2012 Hello my name is Case Danzeiser. I go to a middle school called Clint Small Middle School in Austin, Texas. We are doing a species study on a native Texas plants and animals. I choose to study the pri... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Information about Turk's Cap for school project October 19, 2012 Hello, my name is Veronica. I am doing a Species Study on Turk's Cap at Clint Small Middle School in the Green Tech Academy. I would like to learn more on my Native Texas Species. I am contacting you... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Smog-eating plants from Ft. Worth TX September 30, 2012 Looking for a list (40 >) of Native Texas Plants for Fort Worth Urban (Condo) that are Drought tolerant or (drip irr) and Fragrant and long blooming and eat up the city smog. Fort Worth is in a non-at... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Is Bushy Knotweed carcinogenic from West Grove PA September 06, 2012 Is the invasive Bushy Knotweed / PORA3 / Polygonum ramosissimum toxic to the extent that the spores are carcinogenic? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Petals on Black eyed Susans not developing from Austin September 04, 2012 I just read Barbara Medfords response to undeveloped petals on perennial black eyed susans and was disappointed not to find a better explanation. I have had the exact same thing happen to mine, and I... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Bird nest fungus in Central Austin, TX. August 21, 2012 Hi, I live in Central Austin and have different types of ground cover (such as silver pony foot)in my garden and have noticed huge patches of bird's nest fungi in between and under. Every time it ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| How to distinguish male and female grape vines in Gage OK. August 19, 2012 Are there male and female plants for wild grapes? If so, how do we tell the difference? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| How Do Persimmons Breed - Starkville, MS August 14, 2012 Thank you for your earlier response about the genders of native persimmon trees. We have two, a much larger one that has borne fruit for years and years and a smaller one that I'd just assumed was m... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Is it safe to eat vegetables grown in the same bed as foxgloves? August 12, 2012 I have foxglove in my flower beds and have planted tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and cantaloupe in the flower bed and now I am concerned about the shared root system. Also, my tomatoes are touching the... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Difference between class notes and size notes on website August 09, 2012 I enjoy using the native plant database in planning my flower beds. However, I don't know the difference between Class notes and size notes. Can you help me out? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Forestiera pubescens blooming in July August 07, 2012 I have a lot of what appears to be Forestiera pubescens. They are covered with the dark blue/black berries and flowers. Apparently they are blooming again in the middle of July. I live about 35 mile... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Growth on top of Echinacea purpurea (Eastern purple coneflower) July 03, 2012 I grow purple coneflowers in my garden. ONE plant has something growing on the top of each cone. I would like to know what it is but I don't see how I can add a photo to this post. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Leaf motion in still air in ON June 25, 2012 What causes a tree or plant to dance when the other plants around it are still and no wind??? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| What is white sticky substance in the Mandevilla vine? June 15, 2012 When I was watering my Mandevilla one of the vines broke and there was a white, sticky substance that came out of the vine. I was just curious as to what that is. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Weak stems on asters and ironweed from Woodbridge ON June 06, 2012 My question is in regards to plants flopping over. My smooth asters and ironweeds never seem to have strong stems. Is because the soil is too fertile or maybe too shallow? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Question about male muscadine plants June 01, 2012 I have 9 muscadine plants, 3 females and 6 perfect flowered growing in my yard. A plant started growing under my porch lst year and it grew through the spaces between the boards. It grew nicely. It fl... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Can foxglove poison be transmitted to the soil and taken up by another plant May 29, 2012 Hi Mr. Smarty Plants, Recently I discovered a Foxglove that had come up after being planted 2 or 3 yrs ago. Next to it I have some medicinal Feverfew growing. (They were so close together I suspec... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Variation in leaves for Vitis mustangensis May 17, 2012 Hi, I am doing a sculpture of a mustang grape vine in limestone. In seeking a good leaf image I notice that there are both roundish shaped leaves and highly divided or "fingered" shapes on your sit... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Difference between Convallaria majalis and Convallaria majuscula May 17, 2012 How do you tell the difference in the native convallaria from the European species? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Carolina wolfberry blooms but doesn't produce fruit May 10, 2012 I have had my carolina wolfberry for 2 years now ( I got it at the Wildflower center), it seems to be doing well, creeping all over the flower bed with some branches on the ground up to 6 ft long. It ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Restoring the woods in Central Austin. May 08, 2012 I live in Austin, south central between Red Bud trail close to the low water bridge and Bee Caves road. My question: I want to make the wooded sections of my yard attractive. They have filtered sun... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Beans growing under artificial light from Vernon CT May 04, 2012 What bean plant will grow the best under a flourescent,spot gro light,green transparent light,or Natural light and why.What caused it to grow like it did? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Kerrville Soil for Vegetables May 03, 2012 We are moving to our vacation home in Kerrville, TX and plan on putting in a vegetable garden on the sunny north side of our house. I'm assuming that your answer to the person inquiring about "soil... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Phytoremediation Plant List for St. Louis MO April 19, 2012 My goal is to transform urban blight plots (some up to 1/4 acre) into viable community gardens having healthy, living soil as their foundation. To this end I am researching phytoremediation (thanks... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Seeds of Castilleja purpurea April 12, 2012 The seed photo for Castilleja purpurea is incorrect; seeds are black and poppyseed size. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Flowers for days on end in California March 30, 2012 What are some plants or flowers that I can grow "all-year" in California? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Native plants of Arizona from Chandler AZ March 26, 2012 What are some native plants of Arizona, and how do survive in the heat? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Are Cuscuta spp. (dodders) in Cuscutaceae or Convolvulaceae? March 13, 2012 USDA plant database has the species Cuscuta in the CUSCUTACEAE FAMILY; you have it in the CONVOLVULACEAE FAMILY. Which is correct? Thank you. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Black Walnut tree in LA March 12, 2012 I was just given a black walnut tree and am trying to determine where to place it. I’ve read on your site that “Certain plants will not grow under Black Walnut trees because of the juglones that the ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Manzanita struggling in CA March 01, 2012 I live in Monterey, CA and I have had a manzanita (either Dr. Hurd or Mt. Hood) growing successfully in my yard for about 4 years. This fall all the leaves turned brown and brittle. I am not sure if d... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Plant cloning or genetic engineering February 23, 2012 Can you take one genome (strain) and take a clean cut and put onto another plant another strain? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants for a hillside in WI February 18, 2012 I live in Wisconsin and am currently doing a research project on plant variation on the north and south sides of a hill. I was wondering you could suggest any books to me that would address this issue... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| More information on plants native to Taylor County TX February 13, 2012 Re: Thursday - September 15, 2011 QUESTION: Am looking for direction to a complete list of plants native to the Abilene, Taylor County, Texas area (trees, shrubs, grasses, cacti and other plants ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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