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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| Plant identification, possibly chile pequin September 17, 2008 Found in my back yard a plant about 18 inches tall. it has tiny white 5 petal flowers and small (smaller than a pea) fuits. The fruits smell just like bell pepper. My nose itched after smelling it. ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Pepper plants growing in California September 11, 2008 Hello, I have several hot pepper plants growing in my yard. I would like to know what the pepper is called. I dry them out and grind them up to a powder and use it in many dishes. I have asked my l... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Mystery Iris-like plant in Tennessee September 02, 2008 What is this flower? It came up and bloomed for about five days then died. It was a beautiful white trumpet shaped flower. It had one stem with four flowers. It came up like an Iris but we nver plante... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant ID from New York September 02, 2008 I have a large leaf from a plant that my grandfather has. We live in Niagara county NY. The large leaf is green and has a red stem, growing on a stalk THICK like a sunflower, now has red or black berr... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant Identification in Tennessee September 02, 2008 I live in upper East Tennessee and all my life I have seen a flowering bush we call a Bubbie (or Bubby). It grows to an average approximate height of 6 feet and blooms in the early summer. The blooms ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Bulbs named exotica September 01, 2008 When I purchased some seed from a catalog I received some free bulbs called exotica which I planted.They have long green stems. I don't know what they are or what to do with them. Can I plant them ou... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Help with plant identification. September 01, 2008 We need help identifying a perennial in our backyard, which we assume is a native/wildflower, but might not be. It has yellow flowers with 5/6 petals (delicatea, starlike/about 1-1.5 inches across) a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Mystery dill-type weed September 01, 2008 My daughter has a weed growing in her flower bed that look very simular to dill weed, but thicker. If you pinch it, it has a sticky milky substance come out. Can you tell me what this plant may be? ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Mystery plants at Marble Falls September 01, 2008 On the upper end of Lake Marble Falls is a 2-3 foot tall green stemed plant just blooming small white daisy like flowers. There are no leaves on the plant just stems and now flowers. Any idea where ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Tree with orange flower blooming in August in West Virginia August 28, 2008 There is a tree with an orange flower in West Virginia. The orange is at the top of the tree and it blooms in August. I've searched your sight but cannot find it. Thanks! View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Instructions for Plant ID August 28, 2008 Hi- I have an unidentified small white flowering plant photo to try to identify. Would you be willing to see what you think it is or refer me to someone to whom I could send it? It was photographed on... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant identification August 28, 2008 Hello. There is a plant growing next to my 4 o'clocks that I didn't plant which is almost the same height as them, but has different leaves and it grows wider. It has these huge light green upside d... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant with stalk of purple berries August 27, 2008 I have a plant that just grows.large hollow purple stalk, purple berries in long clusters , grows very tall any thoughts.. it grows like a weed View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant identification August 24, 2008 Please help us identify a woodland plant whose fruiting stem looks very similar to a corncob stuck into the ground, pointy end up. It sticks up about 4-5" above the ground. The largish pale yellow fr... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Weird-looking rootless plant, perhaps a fungus August 23, 2008 While out it my backyard (i.e. the Black Hills of South Dakota), I spotted a weird-looking rootless plant (I think it may be a fungus) growing beneath the Ponderosa Pines. It was the only one in the a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant identification August 19, 2008 Hi, I live in South West Michigan and there is this plant I can't figure out. It has oval leaves in a row on each side of its stems, large thorns, and when the plant is grown it has what seems to be... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant identification August 17, 2008 We are trying to identify a plant we saw on a walk. It's about a foot high. About halfway up, the stem splits in two. From there up the two stems are covered with white kind of loosely trumpet sha... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant identification August 16, 2008 I walk in a wooded area. There is a plant with large spade like leaves.It grow to about 4 to 6 ft. In other areas it has grown almost tree-like with green sticky nuts or seeds. I believe it had purple... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant Identification August 15, 2008 My father-in-law received seeds from a friend-- he didn't know what kind of plant it would grow. Now he questions what kind of plant it is-- it has a red stalk and 17 inch leaves, it appears to grow... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant identification August 15, 2008 Virginia Creeper or something else? I live in McKinney, Tx, and have a limestone escarpment in back that leads down to a "white rock " creek. A wrought iron fence separates the yard area from the ri... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant Identification August 13, 2008 I have a plant that shoots seeds out of pods in late summer and grows like crazy. The stem looks like a rhubarb plant. It has multiple leaves, and beautiful flowers that look like orchids. I was wo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant identification August 13, 2008 Every spring I see these very unique white flowers that grow along the edge of wooded areas. I live in upstate NY. These flowers have some reddish tint to the stem and leaves. The blooms are all si... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant identification August 13, 2008 Bought a plant don't know what it is or how to care for it. It looks like it's dying. Description: light to dark green, long, skinny, rounded trunk, surrounded and topped with grass like blades(top ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant identification August 13, 2008 Can you identify a shrub in my backyard? It has odd looking seed pods with three chambers and hard black seeds inside roughly 1/8" in diameter. The pods themselves are brown, hard shell, and hang d... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plant identification August 11, 2008 Just after the last little rain we got, I noticed a small, inconspicuous plant in my front yard that was sprouting a structure that looks for all the world like a pitcher plant. It is not, however, an... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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