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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 is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Wednesday - November 13, 2013

From: Garden Ridge, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: General Botany
Title: Student research on fire-resistance plant labels from Garden Ridge TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Dear Mr. Smarty Pants, I'm a 4th grader at Garden Ridge Elementary in Comal County. I am researching fire resistant plants. Can you please tell me if most plants' tags say whether they are fire resistant or flammable, is there a universal symbol? Also are there fire resistant grasses? Thank you for your help and for growing so many wildflowers.

ANSWER:

As it happens, your teacher sent in a similar question to Mr. Smarty Plants a few days earlier than you did. Mr. Smarty Plants is a team, and another member of the team chose to answer the teacher's question, which has now been done. Here is a link to that previous answer.

The only thing this member of the Team would add to that answer is that you might consider going to some local plant nurseries and just looking at labels on the plants for sale to see if any have any information like you are studying. You should go to at least one large commercial nursery or garden department in a home improvement store. We specialize in plants native not only to North America but also to the area in which the plants will be grown; in your case, Comal County TX. Those nurseries will have few or no native plants for sale, but at least you will know what kind of labelling they do. Next, visit at least one local area nursery that specializes in native plants. You can find some of these in your general area by going to our National Suppliers Directory. In the "Enter Search Location" box, enter your town and state or just your zip code, press GO and you will get a list of native plant nurseries, seed companies and consultants in your general area. Visit or contact one of them seeking the same information. This will give you some research material to present as part of your project. Thank you for the nice words about what we do and thank you for being interested in the environment, as we are.

 

 

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