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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!

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

 
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Tuesday - March 22, 2016

From: Los Angeles , CA
Region: California
Topic: Plant Identification, Trees
Title: Tree with blue berries in Los Angeles, CA
Answered by: Jimmy Mills

QUESTION:

There's a tree outside my house with somewhat thin and short spiky leaves with blue berries. The berries Some of the berries have a frost look and some are dark blue.

ANSWER:

You didn’t specifically say so, but Mr. Smarty Plants is assuming that you wanted to ask about the identity of your tree. It is difficult to identify a plant from a written description, even it it is a good one. Are there other trees in your area that look like the one you described? If so, you probably have a neighbor who knows the name of the tree.

My suggestion is to contact the folks at the Los Angeles County office of UC Cooperative Extension and ask for help identifying your tree.

Another source of help may be the Los Angeles Garden Club.

 

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