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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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!

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Friday - March 20, 2015

From: Denver, CO
Region: Rocky Mountain
Topic: Plant Identification, Seeds and Seeding, Trees
Title: Inquiry about the Arizona Cypress trees in the Family Garden
Answered by: Nan Hampton & Andrea DeLong-Amaya

QUESTION:

Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I recently visited The Wildflower Center and enjoyed seeing several features that were new since my last visit two years ago. In the Family Garden areas I saw several beautiful Arizona Cypress trees. I thought they had very pleasing form and wonder what their point of local origin is. Can you tell me where they or their source seeds were collected. Or if they have a cultivar name? Might seedlings be offered at the Spring Plant Sale? Thank you, Greg in Denver

ANSWER:

The Hesperocyparis arizonica (Arizona cypress) in our Family Garden area are a cultivar called 'Blue Ice' and were purchased through Mountain States Wholesale Nursery. I doubt we'll have seedlings for sale at our plant sale but they can be found at retail nurseries, but you might need to order them.

We hope you will come to our Spring Plant Sale, anyway. Here are the dates for 2015:

Friday, April 10 from 9am to 5pm (Wildflower Center Members only)

Saturday, April 11 from 9am to 5pm.

Sunday, April 12 from noon to 5pm.

From the Image Gallery

Arizona cypress
Hesperocyparis arizonica