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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

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!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
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Thursday - June 12, 2014

From: Magnolia, Tx, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives, Plant Identification, Shrubs
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

We live in Magnolia TX and have a shrub we can't identify. It's evergreen and has waxy leaves with a serrated edge that are about an inch in length. They have pink flowers and they grow to about 4 feet before we prune them back in winter.

ANSWER:

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center focuses on plants native to North America.  I can't find any plant native to southeastern Texas that fits your description.  You can look for it in our Native Plant Database yourself by doing the COMBINATION SEARCH and choosing Texas from the Select State or Province option, "Shrub" from Habit (general appearance) and "Pink" under Bloom Color.   I strongly suspect it is an introduced species cultivated for the nursery and landcaping trade and we aren't the ones who can identify it.   If you have or can take photos of the shrub, please visit our Plant Identification page to find links to several forums that will accept photos of plants for identification.
 

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