Native Plants
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A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers Nan Hampton, Jimmy Mills and Barbara Medford to be the culpable and capable parties. Yet, others think staff members Damon Waitt, Joe Marcus and Philip Hawkins might 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.
Questions From Near You
New Braunfels, TX
Deer resistant, deciduous plants for New Braunfels, TX
I have three acres of filtered sunlight/mostly shade. What deer resistant, flowering, deciduous plants are best for the New Braunfels area. I have had split leaf phyladendruns for twenty years, but th...
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New Braunfels, TX
Plant identification of vine with hard brown bulb-shaped fruit
I was given a brown hard bulb-looking ball with rough tiny dots on it and told it comes from a vine that changes to beautiful colors and these balls hang off the vine. A lady in Houston grows them a...
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New Braunfels, TX
Bark flaking off oaks in New Braunfels, TX
We have several large clusters of oak trees. Some of the trees are losing their bark. The bark is flaking off in fairly large pieces; even on some of the trees that are leafing out. Is this a result o...
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New Braunfels, TX
Where to find Horseherb seed
I would like to purchase some Horseherb seeds. Can you tell me where I can do that? Either locally or on line.
Thank you.
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New Braunfels, TX
Will my wildflower seeds reseed by themselves?
I have planted wildflowers from seed throughout the several acres of my property in the Hill Country near New Braunfels. Once estalished will they reseed without any help from me? The flowers includ...
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New Braunfels, TX
Should I use wound paint when pruning my live oak tree?
When trimming live oak branches, is it best to coat the wound on the tree? I have been doing this but have recently heard that it can actually be bad for the tree.
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New Braunfels, TX
Possible identification of Post Oak in New Braunfels, TX
I live 6 miles north of New Braunfels in the Hill Country and own 5 acres of land. The property consists of many escarpment live oaks, texas persimon, and ashe juniper. I believe I also have some Te...
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New Braunfels, TX
Drought-Tolerant Trees for South-Central Texas
I would like to replace two Golden Rain Trees with native ornamentals. They should be highly drought tolerant and should not exceed 25 feet in height. They will need to be tough since they will get ...
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New Braunfels, TX
Fast-growing shade tree for New Braunfels, Texas
I would like to plant a tree in the back of my property which is located in the Hill Country just north of New Braunfels. Could you please suggest something that is fast growing and will grow in full...
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New Braunfels, TX
Three native grasses in grass mix research
On a recent visit to the wild flower center I was informed that you had satisfactory results from the grass mix research funded by Walmart. Please let us know which 3 grasses and the percentage of e...
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New Braunfels, TX
A Bounty of Edibles for New Braunfels Texas
I was hoping you could suggest a few plants that would serve several purposes. I live in New Braunfels, TX and would like to incorporate as many drought tolerant plants which would support birds, but...
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New Braunfels, TX
Obtaining a list of Texas native plants
I'm a member of the Lindheimer Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas (New Braunfels area) and wanted to get a list of Texas Native Plants for our Chapter to use as our guideline of what is nat...
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New Braunfels, TX
Pruning Leggy Santolina
We are members of the society and have loved your section offering advice. We have green santolina that is becoming quite leggy. I would like to prune them to get them more compact come spring and sum...
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New Braunfels, TX
Watering practices for live oaks in drought from New Braunfels TX
We have conflicting info about watering live oaks. An arborist says to water now using soaker hoses or small sprinklers and a landscaper who spoke to our garden club said that after August is too late...
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New Braunfels, TX
Repairing Damage to Oak Tree Bark
I have destructive horses who have torn a lot of the bark off of my oak trees. I've moved the horses from that area, but is there something I can put on the places where the bark is missing so the tr...
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New Braunfels, TX
Sources for native trees in New Braunfels TX
I live just north of New Braunfels in the Hill Country. I would like to plant the following trees this December:
Anacacho Orchid Tree, American Smoke Tree, Golden Leadball Tree, and perhaps a Laceba...
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New Braunfels, TX
Deer resistant plants from New Braunfels TX
I have a 1/2 yard covered by a tree, shady. Bermuda grass previous owner planted has all turned brown this summer. I don't have lots of money to work with but would love to landscape that side of fr...
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New Braunfels, TX
Native shrubs to plant after Ashe Juniper removal
I live on 7 acres of beautiful Texas Hill Country land just north of New Braunfels. Live oak, Cedar elm, and Ashe juniper dominate the landscape. I have cleared some of the Ashe juniper and would li...
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New Braunfels, TX
Differentiating between red oak, Shumard oak and American sycamore
I have a few trees growing in an arroyo and I'm pretty certain that they are either red oak, shumard red oak, or Texas sycamore. The trees are deciduous and have a scaled grey bark which becomes lig...
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New Braunfels, TX
Forage plants for deer in Central Texas
Looking for best forage plants and seed for deer forage, Canyon Lake-New Braunfels, Tx. Have searched listings, but areas are NE or other and not relevant to my location. Your time much appreciated. ...
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New Braunfels, TX
Butterfly and medicinal plants for New Braunfels
I am in zip code 78132 and we just put in a garden at our front steps- so my choices for plants need to fill a need for beauty and function. I want to include plants that will host and feed butterfli...
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