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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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Wednesday - September 17, 2008

From: Loudon, TN
Region: Southeast
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Lifespan of non-native weeping cherry tree
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

What is the lifespan of a weeping cherry tree? Thanks.

ANSWER:

Because of the large volume of questions to Mr. Smarty Plants, we are asking that questions be limited to plants native to North America, which is the focus of the work done at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Prunus subhirtella, weeping cherry tree,  is a native of Japan. We can tell you the members of the Prunus genus in general are prone to disease and insect problems, and also tend to be short-lived.
 

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