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
Saturday - July 28, 2012
From: Georgetown, DE
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Non-Natives, Plant Identification, Cacti and Succulents
Title: Removing faded flowers from plants in Georgetown, DE
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
I bought a chamase rose quartz that was in bloom. now the buds are dead, should i remove them or just leave them on the plant. they wont just fall off. and the tips of the plant has new growth.ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants can’t find a plant by that name in our Native Plant Data Base which indicates that it is a non-native, and therefore out of our area of focus. Searching for the name on Goggle brings up some interesting things, but the closest plant name was Chamaelobivia ‘Rose Quartz’ .
Your question is about removing the flower bud after the bloom has faded. This is a practice that is known as deadheading, and is commonly used by gardeners on various types of plants. Removing the spent flower allows the plant to redirect the energy and resources that it would use for making a seed head toward plant growth and perhaps the production of more flowers.
More Non-Natives Questions
Pruning and deadheading rosa rugosa while blooming
August 01, 2008 - Can you prune the dead flowers and branches of rosa rogosa while it is still blooming?
view the full question and answer
Transplanting honeysuckle bush in Illinois
April 18, 2009 - Want to transplant 3 honeysuckle shrubs 10 to 12' tall this month, although not the best time. Please advise.
view the full question and answer
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
July 02, 2014 - Foxglove (digitalis purpurea) is not a native U.S. plant. It was introduced to the U.S. from Europe and is now considered invasive in many parts of the western U.S. It invades our forested wild land...
view the full question and answer
Problems with non-native closet plant
November 23, 2008 - I have three closet plants. All are putting on new growth and even blooming. However, the leaves are turning brown from the edges. What is the problem?
view the full question and answer
Problems with non-native citrus trees from Mesa AZ
January 13, 2014 - We have one valencia orange tree and one naval orange tree in our Mesa, AZ yard. Just noticed some oranges on both trees have a 1/4 inch diameter hole through the skin and the orange fruit and skin a...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |