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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| Lantanas failing to bloom, turning brown October 06, 2007 The lantana in my front yard does not bloom, is not overwatered but does get watered, leaves turned brown and plants generally have not grown. The lantana in the rest of the yard are in bloom and lo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Care of Styphnolobium affine, Eves necklace October 05, 2007 I have an 18 yr old Eve's Necklace tree that is dying from the "bottom up". It has only a few leaves at the very top of the tree. I have, connected to the gutter, a rain barrel from which the exc... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Care of Jade plant September 06, 2007 Hi there, I have a question and really appreciate your time helping me regarding my plant. I bought a Jade plant; 35 yr. old ; very thick stems and healthy at the time of purchase from a very si... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Possible causes for plant problems in East Texas September 06, 2007 I have been an avid gardener for over 35 years in Texas.I love the wildflowers and use them extensively in my 2 acre plot here in East Texas. There is something really bad going on with my garden: pl... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with purple passion flower September 04, 2007 Hello, I live in La Place, Louisiana (30 miles west of New Orleans). In March 2007, I planted a purple passion flower (maypop). During the spring it thrived and was covered with brilliant green le... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Oak leaf fall causing ivy damage August 28, 2007 I read the A/Q in the Austin American-Statesman Saturday, August 25, regarding the leaves falling now from the live oaks. I am experiencing the same thing, but it is the leaves of my post oaks that a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Cool, wet summer effect on evergreen sumac August 28, 2007 Hi Mr. Smarty Plants, I have 3 evergreen sumac bushes that I planted as a screen between my house and my neighbors two years ago. They are located in a part of our yard that receives a lot of runof... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Yellowing leaves on young bur oak August 06, 2007 I saw your response on 7/25 about leaves on mature live oaks turning yellow, then brown because of excessive rain. The same thing is happening to our young burr oak. Leaves are turning yellowish, th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Diagnosis of problem with Parsley hawthorn August 06, 2007 I have a Crataegus marshallii (Parsley hawthorn) that is about 3 years old. It leafed out this spring and flowered lightly. As the summer has progressed, though, the leaves have been dropping premat... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Identification of worm feeding on chockecheery August 03, 2007 I am looking to find out what sort of worm looking insect, is commonly found on chokecherry trees. It has a turquoise appearance with yellow fingerlike projections on the back. It suctions onto the ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Protection of American beautyberry in Pennsylvania July 30, 2007 I have had a beauty berry 2 years now. I trim it back in early spring and it returns beautifully. ...but no flowers this year and it's almost August. Last year, very few berries. Can you help? I... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Bloom color change in Choctaw Crape Myrtle July 30, 2007 In 2006 my wife bought a Choctaw Crape Myrtle from a local nursery. It had a tag from Greenleaf Nursery and had several blooms in the "correct" pink color. The plant was 5-6 ft tall. It has grown... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Overwatering and fertilization of whiteleaf manzanita July 27, 2007 Hi, I have an Arctostaphylos Dr. Hurd, southern California coast, several years old, 10 feet, that has a few large branches with yellowing and spotted leaves... also dropping many. causes? remedy? sh... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Oak diseases as a result of wet, cool weather July 25, 2007 The mature live oak trees in our back yard have been dropping leaves just like they do in March, but this is July! Small to medium spots on the leaves turn brown before they drop. The veins of the l... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Non-fruiting squash July 25, 2007 With all this rain in Dallas why would our Zuchinni and Yellow squash be beautiful and green but not produce any squash? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Recovery of damaged fuchsia plant in hanging basket July 23, 2007 I had a beautiful fuchsia plant hanging on my porch. The hanger gave way and the plant fell straight down into another flower bed. The fuchsia seemed ok. I put it back in the pot put up new strong ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Control of live oak suckers by cutting July 23, 2007 How do I control the Live Oak root suckers? At the moment we are cutting them as they come out of the ground. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Transplant shock in Dakota mock vervain July 23, 2007 We just planted some Verbena bipinnatifida in our back yard and when we planted it, it had purple flowers on it but now they've all dried up. We live in central Colorado and thought this plant was fa... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Effect of unusual wet weather on desert willows July 23, 2007 I live in North Central Texas and have 3 beautiful Desert willow trees that are usually in full bloom. I've kept them pruned to form a nice full tree shape but now they are losing leaves and looking ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Repair of broken branch stump on pecan tree July 18, 2007 Hi Mr. Smarty Plants, big fan. Recently one of my pecan trees had a large branch break off, about 4 or 5 inches in diameter. The strange part was there was no clear sign of what caused the damage, i... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Juniper as host of cedar-apple rust July 17, 2007 Thanks for the helpful advice on the Eastern Red Cedar. I was wondering if you could ease my mind about a potential problem. I have read up on some of the native plants in my area in a very good book ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Advisability of trimming oak trees in August July 13, 2007 In general,what is your opinion on pruning oak trees in August? If it is positive, should the extreme moisture of this year affect the timing? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Identification of gooseberry plant July 12, 2007 Grew up in Colorado, our yard and several near us had medium to large size deciduous shrubs that produced small (.25"-.375") red berries that were very tomato-like. Delicate with a thin skin, sligh... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Recovery from transplant shock for bougainvillea July 12, 2007 I live outside of Phoenix. I just bought a bougainvillea in a large pot. It was doing nicely until I brought it home. I placed it in a sunny spot in my front yard inside of a large volcanic rock that ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Transplant shock in Vacccinum corymbosum (highbush blueberry) June 28, 2007 Blueberry plants - We planted Northland and Blue Crop, 2 of each. All 4 plants have some leaves that are turning brown. This starts at the tip of the leaf, eventually encompasses the entire leaf, a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
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