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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| Failure to thrive of Esperanza in Houston July 07, 2009 Esperanza plant. I have 3 of these plant in my flower bed for the last 10 years. They get west sun. Over the last three years they have bloomed initially but then the new growth is deformed. The best... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Red spots on white flower of Anemopsis californica July 05, 2009 Do you know what the red spots are on the white flower of the California native, Anemopsis californica? Is it a fungus, insect, or just physiological? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with Eastern hemlock in Greenville SC July 02, 2009 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I have a beautiful, young, 5 and a half foot tall Eastern Hemlock. I purchased and planted it two years ago in the fall. It has been doing very well all this spring. And ne... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Browning leaves on Ilex vomitoria in Houston July 02, 2009 Houston, we have a problem!!! I have a number of yaupon bushes that have been in my yard for years that have a large number of leaves turning a solid dark brown color. Any ideas of the cause? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Why are my Spanish Oaks dropping branches that appear to be alive? June 24, 2009 We have two large Spanish Oaks that we planted ourselves. They both have begun to loose large branches that aren't dead. These branches just break off and fall. There is usually a wind, but not to th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Why is my Ash drooping? June 22, 2009 Last spring, I bought a house in Austin, TX with a large Ash tree in the front yard. It looked fine last year, but has been looking funny since it leafed out this spring. It's as if the leaves are we... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Red and black bugs on hibiscus June 19, 2009 I can't get your Keyword search to work.. I have tiny red and black bugs on my hibiscus. I have tried 2 different garden sprays and neither seems to kill the tiny bugs. They barely move on the pla... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with Savannah Holly plants in Friendswood, TX. June 17, 2009 I have planted 4 savannah hollies in front of my house, two on the left of the door and two on the right. If you are standing in front of my house and looking at the door, the sun rises at the back l... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Leaves turning brown in Fredonia KS June 16, 2009 Leaves turning brown. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Why is my weeping willow looking so bad? June 15, 2009 My weeping willow suddenly up and looked like it died Yellow leaves dried up and dropping off It is planted in what is called "Wet lands" Clay soil water wet Just looks like it is dying View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| What is wrong with my Weeping Willow? June 15, 2009 I have a weeping willow tree for about 7 years. It's about 50 feet high and the bark is separating and it starting to drip and collect on trunk bottom a suds type substance. Looks like soap suds. T... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| My weeping willow is not doing well - Taneytown, MD June 15, 2009 I have a weeping willow tree. It is in a very wet place, soil gets plenty of water, but the bark on the tree is raising up and blistering up. The leaves are very sparse on it this year. I can't se... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with Green Cloud cenizo in Tucson, AZ June 15, 2009 I have a large number of Green Cloud Texas Rangers on my property. I water all very consistently, once a week and most of these are around 5-6 ft tall and 15 years or more old. We've only had a few i... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with Mountain Laurel in Leander TX June 15, 2009 My 13 yr old Mountain Laurel tree is sick. It has lost most of its leaves after blooming this spring. The twigs seem to still be pliable so I assume alive. I saw no moth worms or bags this year, ju... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Loss of bloom on Fremontodendron californicum in California June 11, 2009 The flowers on my Flannel Bush all died at once I have noticed a sappy substance at the base of the trunk. There are still some flowers on bush but most are dead. It has been blooming since Feb. Is ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Diseased cypress trees in Connecticut June 09, 2009 Cypress trees in Connecticut browning on interior. Tips of longer limbs completely brown, single limbs dying one at a time, sap oozing out of mainstem underneath dying limb. I do not see any canker... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with morning glory in Tennessee. June 09, 2009 I recently moved to Tennessee from Michigan. On my property I have a perennial morning glory. This year the leaves are all bubbly, the stems have white hard stuff on them and there is a brown hard t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Rust-colored spots on Lantana? June 05, 2009 Mr. Smarty Plants, I live in Cibolo TX and my lantana plants are about 3 years old. They have done exceedingly well until this spring. The leaves have developed brown, rust colored spots and the le... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Yellowing of St. Augustine grass in south Texas June 04, 2009 We live in deep south Texas, Roma, Texas to be precise and we have a problem with our San Augustine grass. In the spring its quite nice and green after a few weeks and one rain it is turning yellow. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| What to do about powdery mildew on Pavonia lasiopetala? June 02, 2009 My Pavonia lasiopetala seems to have gotten mildew this spring. I was hoping that warm weather would get rid of it. Instead it has spread to most of the plants which are located in widely separated b... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with Green Cloud purple sage in Buda TX May 30, 2009 I planted the "Green Cloud" variety of purple sage about 3 years ago. Yesterday, I noticed yellowish dots on the underside of the leaves of some plants. Is this harmful? The plants seem to be ok ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with Blackeyed Susans in Philadelphia May 26, 2009 For 8 years I successfully grew Black Eyed Susans in a fairly large area in my garden. For the last two years,almost immediately upon pushing through the ground they develop black spots and then appe... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Grasshopper-resistant landscape plants? May 20, 2009 We have a ton of grasshoppers in our area. I would like to plant bushes and flowers that the grasshoppers will not eat. Can you suggest any?? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Sooty Mold on Beauty Berry May 19, 2009 We recently planted a beauty berry plant (among others) to attract birds in our backyard. We have had a lot of rain (probably 5-7 inches) since planting a few weeks ago if that might have something to... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with Thuga occidentalis in Canton MI May 11, 2009 I have emerald arborvitae that have become very "shaggy" and somewhat orange at the base of some leaves, while my neighbors look compact and dark green. What am I doing wrong? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Why are the eastern red cedars in Bastrop/Travis County turning brown? May 11, 2009 I live on the Bastrop/Travis county, TX line and have many eastern red cedars on my property. About 10 of them are dying and it has happened quickly with the onset of the warmer weather. I noticed d... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Why are my Junipers turning brown in San Antonio? May 11, 2009 My Texas mountain cedars (junipers, I know) are turning brown, limb by limb. What is the problem and how do I save what looks like a dying tree. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Will Mountain Laurels be harmed by juglones from my pecan tree? May 06, 2009 Hi. I just bought a house. It has a big pecan tree at the edge of the front lawn next to the street. I guess it's about 25 feet from the front of the house. I was thinking of planting mountain la... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Ring of small holes around pecan tree branches May 05, 2009 I live outside Cooper, TX and I have a pecan tree about 15 years old, which I just noticed has little round holes (about the size of a pencil) going around the branches. It branches out about 3 feet ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Older leaves yellowing on Savannah holly in Dallas May 01, 2009 I planted a Savannah Holly in Dallas, TX in the Fall of 2008. It has new growth and some white buds all over it, but some of the older leaves are turning yellow and dropping off. Is this normal? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Brown patches on St. Augustine grass April 24, 2009 I have brown patches on my st. augustine grass, it looks like the grass has rotted from standing water, but the drainage is not a problem, What could it be? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Bignonia capreolata with brown leaves in Pennsylvania April 24, 2009 3 year old crossvine leaves brown and dead looking. Will it come back and bud out? Crossvine on fence southern exposure. Crossvine on fence in another area has leaves and are dark green/purple - sa... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Yaupons dying back in San Antonio April 23, 2009 I have 4 yaupon shrubs in the same area for several years. This past winter one turned brown from inside to outside very quickly. It is dead but the roots are not loose. The others began doing the sam... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Yellowing leaves on yaupon in Ft. Worth April 23, 2009 I planted a Pride of Houston Yaupon Holly in January in full sun. It is blooming little white flowers right now for spring, but a lot of leaves are turning yellow. Do you know what is causing this? ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with non-native weeping willow April 17, 2009 The trunk of my Weeping Willow tree has raised donut growths.The left base has decay. There is a large space between the base and the soil (no roots) and the wood is brittle. Large ants with a black ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Fronds turning brown on yucca in Leander, TX April 13, 2009 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I live Northwest of Austin in Leander and have grown a spanish dagger yucca for several years. It is 8 feet tall and each spring it puts up a showy spike of blooms. The old fr... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with Crape Myrtles in Oklahoma. April 12, 2009 I planted Crape Myrtles,Catawba, that are about 4 feet high. I planted them last October. They all had new leaves on them a week ago. All of the leaves are now brown and shriveled up. There is a t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with red tip photinia in San Antonio March 29, 2009 I have a red tip photinia that's about 20 years old and about 20 feet high--it is big! I noticed last summer the highest leaves looked droopy all the time even with deep watering and now that portion... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Moth using Agarita as its larval food in New Braunfels, TX March 27, 2009 What moth uses agarita as its larval food? It is a perennial problem that can nearly defoliate the specimen and severely limit its flower production. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Keeping dogs and cats out of flower gardens March 02, 2009 Do you have any suggestions to keep the cats and dogs out of my flower garden? They either just walk through it, and trample everything, or sleep on the soft blooms and squish everything. I am despe... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Pest on leaves of native Texas persimmon in Laredo, TX February 20, 2009 I have a transplanted a Texas persimmon tree from the wild. It has some globes in the leaves. It seems like some pest injected something from underside of leaves. Any suggestion? What is happening t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Bacterial spot in peach tree in McDade TX February 05, 2009 I have a Red Globe peach tree which was planted in February 2008. The local agricultural extension agent identified the tree as having Bacterial Spot in November 2008. They recommended copper hydrox... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with wax myrtle in Austin February 01, 2009 I have been struggling with wax myrtles for the last year! We live in NW Austin, The plants start off great and then thin out, leaves go brown, and die. I then cut off the dead wood in the hope that t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with gnats in dirt December 27, 2008 I have problems with gnats in my dirt. It's something I can't get control of. What can I do? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Exposed area on native elm in Texas December 26, 2008 I have an elm tree starting to show signs of dying. It has an exposed area at the trunk of the tree turning white. When it rains there is a 6-inch strip (the width of the exposed area) running up th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Why is my Mountain Laurel in distress? November 26, 2008 We have planted our 2nd Texas Mountain Laurel in the same spot (after fresh berm built with sandy loam) and it is not looking good in less than 2 weeks. We have an identical berm on the other end of... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Pale leaves and brown tips on Tecoma stans in Austin November 12, 2008 I have a Tecoma Stans planted in a large galvanized container in a sunny spot. It has grown very fast in the last few months and flowers regularly, but the leaves are pale and the tips are turning bro... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with hibiscus tree in Wichita Falls, TX November 10, 2008 My Hibiscus trees have black spots on the leaves. What might this be and what is the remedy? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with hibiscus in Florida November 09, 2008 Have a hibiscus in Florida. It has always done beautifully planted in the ground. This year, it has developed something where the branches are sort of white, and the buds (and ends of branches) look ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Mildew in Phlox paniculata October 13, 2008 I planted garden phlox (phlox paniculata) in my front landscaping and it is suffering from mildew. It is wet on that side due to a down spout and it may benefit from being split. Does anyone know of... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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