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!

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

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Sunday - February 13, 2011

From: Simms, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shrubs
Title: Identification of tree or shrub from Simms TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Thought you might have the expertise to help identify this tree/shrub? They were planted about 10 years ago and started in a pot about 2 feet high. I have photos but not sure how to send them to you; please let me know. Thank you for your time

ANSWER:

We are sorry, but this is not enough of a clue for us to identify your plant, especially since we don't even know if it is native or non-native. If it is non-native, it will not appear in our database. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is dedicated to the growth, protection and propagation of plants native not only to North America but to the area in which they are being grown. We are no longer able to identify plants from pictures, simply because of the time involved. See our Mr. Smarty Plants page on identifying plants for suggestions on where you might get the information you need. Another possibility is to contact the Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension Office for Bowie County. If the plant is already growing in your neighborhood, perhaps someone around you knows what it is. Once you have it identified, you can first check to see if it is native by going to our Native Plant Database, typing in the name of the plant, in the first box on the page and click "Go." Please note that there are many common names for every plant, and the common name you have may not match any in our database, or perhaps the spelling does not. If you get no matches on that search, try Google. It will sometimes be able to help you in that it will present alternative spellings to see if that is what you are trying to find.

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Sunday - February 13, 2011

QUESTION:

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