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.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
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.
rate this answer
Sunday - June 15, 2008
From: Bertram, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Non-blooming orange bell plant
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
My orange bell plant is not blooming. I live in Central Texas where it is hot. The plant has part sun, part shade. Is there any way to help it bloom?ANSWER:
We don't seem to have enough information to answer your question. Is this a name that was on a label at a nursery? Many plants are on the commercial market now that are non-native and given trade names that mean nothing in terms of identification. The only orange bells we found in our research were orange bell peppers. Botany.com has a good website on the Capsicum genus, which includes the bell peppers. There also is a pepper which is native to Texas, but its fruits are not orange, Capsicum annuum (cayenne pepper), so that's no help. If you could provide us with a picture, we might be able to identify the botanical name and then find some help for your problem. Go to the Ask Mr. Smarty Plants page, under Plant Identification in the lower right-hand corner you will find instructions for sending us pictures.
More Plant Identification Questions
Identification of plant in Menard TX
April 16, 2010 - We recently purchased 40 acres in Menard Texas on the San Saba River. There is a plant that looks like a fern that is all over the river bottom. It looks like the foliage on a carrot and they are al...
view the full question and answer
Plant identification
August 19, 2008 - Hi, I live in South West Michigan and there is this plant I can't figure out. It has oval leaves in a row on each side of its stems, large thorns, and when the plant is grown it has what seems to be...
view the full question and answer
Identifying a plant/weed blooming in Feb. in Texas
February 24, 2010 - Can you help me identify a flowering plant I have found growing in my yard? It is a tiny green plant most months of the year, with very tiny deep to pastel blue flowers on it in early spring ( it is i...
view the full question and answer
Plant identification
July 01, 2013 - I picked a beautiful large red wildflower, & by the time I got home, the stem had turned "spikey" and dark black! Very ugly & a little scary as I had never heard of such a flower! Can you identify??
view the full question and answer
Incomplete question from Austin TX
June 16, 2012 - If I asked this same question but in regards to Austin TX what would the answer be? My 2 plants have spent 2 winters indoors (they are huge now and never stop blooming), but am wondering about leaving...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |