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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| Propagating a white cultivar of Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora September 09, 2016 I am trying to propagate a white cultivar of the Texas Mountain Laurel. I plan to use bee sticks and pollinate the plant. Are the plants self fruiting or do I need to find another white mountain laure... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Young Mexican White Oak Losing Leaves in Texas July 13, 2016 I have a 5 yr old Mexican white oak, 20 ft tall losing its leaves mostly at the top. They turn brown & fall off. It does not lose its leaves in the winter, right?. About 3 ft from the top down is bare... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Manzanita Not Growing Well July 11, 2016 Dear Mr Smarty Plants, I have a four native Dr. Hurd manzanitas growing in my yard, which I planted three years ago. Three seem quite happy with lots of foliage. The fourth has foliage only on this ye... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Drought Resistant Privacy Screen for North Side of Austin Texas House July 10, 2016 We live in the densely populated Mueller development, where there's barely 3 feet from our home to the 6 foot high privacy fence between us and the house next door. Since the houses are 2 stories, we ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Spacing for a Desert Willow Tree in California July 07, 2016 How close to a house can I plant a desert willow tree? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Removing Old Poison Ivy Vines from Pecan Trees July 07, 2016 I am in the process of cleaning up a creek bank that has very old pecan trees on it. The pecan trees have large poison ivy vines growing up the trunks. We cut one vine and when it died and fell from ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Native Texas Trees from Seed for Fence Line July 07, 2016 My parents have an unirrigated fence line on their property that they want to grow evergreen screening plants along. Given the difficulty of establishing nursery grown plants in such an unirrigated a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Southern Live Oak Authority for Jackson MS June 23, 2016 Who are the foremost authorities on Southern Live Oaks? May need expert testimony to oppose cutting of 50 year-old live oaks in boulevard of Riverside Drive in Jackson, MS View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Cedar Elms too close together April 27, 2016 I'm fairly new to North Texas and recently bought a new home with 2 young cedar elms in the front yard. From my understanding these trees can grow quite large. My front is about 25 feet wide and the... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Sophora seeds to give away April 13, 2016 When we moved to TX years ago we bought a mountain laurel so we could have the beautiful purple flowers and were disappointed when the flowers every year were white (with a few purple ones here and th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
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