Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
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
Cedar Park, TX
Pin Oak Dropping Leaves Early
I have a large pin oak that's losing it's leaves at this time. Is this too early? I have been watering the tree during the hot, dry weather and overall the tree looks healthy and has a good crop of ...
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Cedar Park, TX
Where can seeds or plants of Ruellia nudiflora be obtained from Cedar Park TX
Where can I purchase Ruellia nudiflora seeds or plants?
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Cedar Park, TX
More on bluebonnets
I have had an area in my yard where I have established bluebonnets. Since we had such a dismal showing in the spring of 2006 I was looking forward to a great show for 2007. Lo and behold I had about...
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Cedar Park, TX
Plant mistakes from Cedar Park, TX
At our "Wilts End" in Cedar Park, TX. and are looking for a tall shrub/tree that will hide a 6-ft tall concrete wall and muffle the noise from a busy street. The wall forms a very wide-angled V shap...
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Cedar Park, TX
Identification of small purplish/pink flower with ferny leaves
There is a totally adorable tiny flower blooming right now in my lease pasture near the Cedar Park Center in Cedar Park, TX. It has a rosette of 2"-3" ferny leaves circling a very tiny (1/4") purp...
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Cedar Park, TX
Bracket fungus on live oaks
I live in Cedar Park and the house we just bought has 4 native live oaks growing in the front yard. On two of the live oaks there are bracket fungi growing at their base. Each tree just produced two n...
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Cedar park, TX
Grassy "weed" invasion in Bermuda grass lawn
Our grass is being totally overrun by this weed.(I don't know what the name is but I do know it's not the dandelion weed or the thin grassy weed). It is Bermuda grass and I really don't know how to...
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Cedar Park, TX
When to transplant volunteer Cedar Elms in Cedar Park, TX?
We have a number of volunteer cedar elms we would like to transplant. When is the best time to do this? Should they be potted first and later transplanted or transplanted immediately? Thanks.
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Cedar Park, TX
Buffalo grass and other native grass for lawn in Central Texas
Hi,
I live in Cedar Park, TX - recently moved to into a newly built house. I wanted to put some native grass (like buffalo) in the back yard.
- My back yard has slope (away from house) and front...
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Cedar Park, TX
Will drought-stricken non-native St. Augustine come back in Cedar Park TX
I recently bought a new house but the grass in the yard looked completely dead (bought house in Nov) even though the neighbor's grass was still green. The previous owner stopped watering the grass (e...
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Cedar Park, TX
Will Bermuda grass crowd out natives
i have a new office bldg on an acre lot in cedar park. the city requires complete ground cover within a few months so bermuda was sprayed much to my dismay..the area along the front towards the road ...
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cedar park, TX
What is eating the leaves of my oak tree in Cedar Park, TX?
This one has a couple of arborists stumped. I have clusters of small, light-colored worms on the leaves of an oak tree, but no tents or webs. They are eating the chlorophyll in the leaves, leaving th...
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Cedar Park, TX
Need an evergreen shrub to hide a concrete wall and not attract bees in Cedar Park, TX
I am looking for an evergreen shrub that I can plant in our yard to hide a 3' concrete wall. The area receives full sun during the day, and we would like something that is drought resistant. We also ...
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Cedar Park, TX
Seeds for invasive, non-native Erodium cicutarium
I rec'd the following e-mail from a friend in he Chicago area. I looked for about an hour and couldn't find a place to get weed seeds. She thinks we are in the desert here and apparently are so rura...
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Cedar Park, TX
Problems with non-native photinia in Austin
Hi, I live in Cedar Park, TX (Austin Suburb)and have planted a number of Photinia shrubs in various areas of my property. All about 10 months old.
The leaves are curling along their length on many...
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Cedar Park, TX
Plants to accompany cactus and agave
What plants would look well with cactus and agave to soften the look of spikiness? Also, a homeowner in our association wants the association to plant a pyracantha at the corner of the street to preve...
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Cedar Park, TX
Vine for shady planter from Cedar Park TX
We bought a home in Central Texas and inherited several raised-bed planters. One of the planters is set up to grow a vine, but it's in a part of the yard that is mostly in the shade of a tree. Is t...
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Cedar Park, TX
Replacing Drought-Stricken Cedars
Hello, I live in Williamson County on a couple acres. We have several dead cedars as a result of drought; we're reluctant to cut them down because many of them provide a friendly barrier between us...
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Cedar Park, TX
Comment on previous answer from Austin
Ms Bradford,
You just answered my question about St. Augustine grass.. actually, you didn't answer it.. You said "sorry, wrong number". Very funny. I think you misunderstood... I would rather no...
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Cedar Park, TX
Cenizo for border of school garden from Cedar Park TX
Hi. We're starting a school garden in Central Texas, and instead of building a fence along one side, we'd like to plant a hedge. Ideally, it would grow tall enough to deter deer from jumping over, b...
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Cedar Park, TX
Curling lower leaves on live oak in Cedar Park, TX
I have noticed that one of my live oak tree, the leaves on the bottom of the tree have stared to curl. The leaves above that look fine. The trees are about 12 yrs old. Any suggestions?
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