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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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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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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

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Sunday - May 11, 2014

From: Scottsdale, AZ
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives, Transplants, Trees
Title: Transplanting non-native crape myrtle in Scottsdale AZ
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

When is the best time to transplant dwarf crape myrtle in Scottsdale AZ?

ANSWER:

From Floridata, this article on Lagerstroemia indica (crapemyrtle) will give you far more information than we can. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, home of Mr. Smarty Plants, is committed to the growth, propagation and protection of plants native not only to North America but also to the area in which they are being grown; in your case, Maricopa Co., AZ. Since this plant is native to Asia, we do not have it in our Native Plant Database. We can tell you that we recommend transplanting woody plants (trees and shrubs) in cool weather, December and January.

Here is more information on crapemyrtle from the United States National Arboretum.

 

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