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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Saturday - July 18, 2009
From: Plymouth, MD
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Failure to bloom of non-native lilac in Plymouth MD
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
My five year old lilacs are not blooming, WHY?ANSWER:
Our focus and expertise at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center are in plants native to North America. Common lilac or lilac bush (Syringa vulgaris) is a European native that has been naturalized in North America. It only blooms for about two weeks, early in the Spring, and then it's through for the year. We can guide you to sources that will have the answers to your lilac bush care problems. According to The Gardener's Network, the most important thing about pruning your lilac is to do so as soon as it has finished blooming. and before its seeds have completely formed and set. This will encourage the plant to bloom heartily next year. Another reason to prune immediately after the tree has bloomed is that the flower buds for next year's flowers form early. If you wait too long after this year's blooming has finished, you risk the possibility of trimming off next year's buds. Your can read more about care of your lilac on the International Lilac Society webpage and on the Syringa Plus webpage.More Non-Natives Questions
Non-native Chinese pistache in Eagle Pass, TX
June 14, 2009 - Hi Mr Smarty Plants!!
I just bought a young chinese pistache tree, is no bigger than 7 feet. I've never had one of these trees before, I'm about to plant it and I would also like to fertilize it...
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Deterioration of non-native weeping willows in Alabama
May 19, 2008 - I have a small lake behind my house. 8 years ago we planted two nice weeping willow trees, one on each corner of our yard down toward the lake. One started looking bad last year and we cut all the de...
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Non-native Star Jasmine poisonous to dogs from Dallas
May 20, 2013 - Is star jasmine poisonous to dogs?
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Problems with non-native St. Augustine lawn from Austin
October 06, 2013 - We have St. Augustine in our front lawn. There are some patches where the grass has entirely died but mixed in with the dead areas are little clumps of living grass. It seems to be spreading througho...
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Non-native wedelia and dayflower in Lihue HI
September 03, 2009 - I have wedelia as ground covering, day flower or commelinaceae takes over. What can I use or spray to rid myself of the day flower problem?
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