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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Smarty Plants Question Topics
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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| Replacing vegetation lost to hurricane October 15, 2008 Between Rita & Ike, I have lost over 40 beautiful trees, most red, white & post oaks. I have 6 very large (7' in diameter) pines that tried to pull up and are now leaning toward my house. They are sc... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native trees for horse pasture in eastern Washington October 15, 2008 Hi. I live in Washington State (eastern)What type of trees can I grow in a pasture for horses? Best Regards, View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Cold hardiness of native Wild Olive in Austin October 11, 2008 I am considering purchasing a Mexican/Texas Olive (Cordia boissieri) at the upcoming Wildflower Center plant sale to put in my yard in east Austin. I know this tree naturally occurring range extends ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Holding an Acer rubrum in a container for two years October 10, 2008 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I am thinking about ordering a Red Maple tree that is cultivated from Mount Vernon. I appreciate the historic nature of such a tree. The tree will be shipped to me and is ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Nut tree for Florida October 09, 2008 Hi! I would like to plant a nut tree in Orlando, FL. What would you recommend? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Recommendations for mature oak for Austin October 08, 2008 Mr. smarty pants- We would like to purchase a mature oak tree and have it planted in our yard in Austin. Recommendations, things to be aware of, you know, the general smarty pants treatment. Thank y... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Small native evergreen tree for Long Island, NY October 06, 2008 Hi, I am looking for an evergreen tree to plant on Long Island NY. I plan on planting it in my front yard. At maturity to about 10-15ft about 5 ft wide. Not sure about soil, the area gets good AM sun ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Pruning for native oak in Houston October 06, 2008 I have an oak tree, and I was wondering if I prune from the top down, would it get fuller at the bottom? Or can you tell me how to prune it? I have been pruning from the bottom up and it is growing ta... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Viability of Cupressus macrocarpa in Arvada, Colorado October 06, 2008 Can I plant lemon cypress in Arvada CO, zone 5, as landscaping plant? Can't find zone information. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Small, slow-growing native tree for Houston October 05, 2008 Can you please recommend a pretty, small, slow growing tree for my bed centerpiece? It gets some sun/partial shade in front of my Houston area north facing home and must survive heat and some drought... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Lightning protection of smooth bark cypress October 05, 2008 I have been told that the smooth bark cypress stores a large amount of water at its base and if lightning strikes, it will explode and extinguish the flames. Could you tell me if this is a myth? I'... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Replacement for dead oak tree after hurricane October 01, 2008 Mr. Smarty Plants, It still is hard to believe but my dead Oak tree survived H.Ike! Now that I've gotten that dreaded letter from the HOA, they want me to replace it with at least a 45 gallon tree.... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Trophy tree for Spicewood, Texas September 30, 2008 I want to plant a trophy Mesquite at the bottom of the hill, in Spicewood. I'm told that it may not flourish, because of the soil in my area. If that is the case, what would be a striking tree as a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Native trees for property in Washington State September 29, 2008 We bought a piece of property on Lake Wenatchee, Washington. It was cleared more than we would like and want to know what types of trees grow well there and can handle the snow. Should I wait until ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants native to Central New Jersey September 28, 2008 What trees are native to Central New Jersey? Also, can you give me a website or information on plant life and tree life in Central New Jersey? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Selection of native trees to replace trees lost in hurricane September 28, 2008 Hello, I have a tree replacement list I must choose from as I live in a HOA deeded area. I lost 2 pines to the hurricane. And according to them I need to replace with 2 large trees. The pines were 15 ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Pruning native Senna lindheimeriana September 28, 2008 I asked a question about pruning a Texas Senna tree. The Texas Senna I have is either a S. wislizenii or a S.lindheimeriana. It is a beautiful tree that I purchased at a Texas Native Plant nursery. ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Trees native to North Georgia September 26, 2008 What trees are native to North Georgia, (Blue Ridge Mountain, Elijay, Helen) area? Need info. for daughters school report. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Is the orchid tree (Bauhinia lunarioides) poisonous to dogs? September 26, 2008 is the orchid tree (bauhinia) poisonous to dogs? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Distance from wall to plant Eastern red cedar September 26, 2008 I want to plant a row of Eastern red cedar on the high side of a 2 to 2 1/2 ft large Pavestone block retaining wall, preferably as close to the wall as possible. We have put maybe 4-5" of gravel beh... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Fast growing native trees for firewood in New Hampshire September 25, 2008 Can you tell me what FAST growing tree is best for a planned crop? We plan to generate new tree crops every year. We want to use this wood for burning in indoor wood stoves and maybe in an outdoor woo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Small, attractive tree to replace redbud September 23, 2008 Hi. We have a dying redbud (approx 9 yrs old) in our west facing front yard. It gets lots of sun, and plenty of water from our irrigation system. We think the issue is a vertical split in the trunk, ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Leaves dropping on native Texas Mountain Laurel in San Antonio September 20, 2008 Please help. We have a beautiful TX Mountain Laurel in our front yard. This year the leaves are dropping like snow in the north. What do you think is wrong with our tree? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Living fence of native plants for Ojai, CA September 20, 2008 I would like to build a "green fence" about 10-15 feet tall. I live in Ojai, CA where we have VERY hot summers and it goes below freezing every winter. The soil does not seem to drain well..it is e... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Sappy dew killing plants under oaks in Missouri September 19, 2008 There is a sappy dew killing my perennials.I have several large oaks in my yard. I had different kinds of shade perennials around each base of the trees. But as years have gone by, the different varie... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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