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
St Johns FL, FL
Growing Chilopsis in Florida
I live in St. Johns County, FL between Jacksonville and St Augustine. I live inland, not near the beach. I bought a small desert willow plant in Victoria, TX and brought it back to FL to grow. I plan ...
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St. Augustine, FL
Vine for lanai in St. Augustine FL
What vine can I grow to attach to a screened in lanai around my pool? Will it damage my screen?
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St Augustine, FL
Treatment of black mildew on magnolia
I think my magnolia has black mildew. How do I treat it?
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St. Augustine, FL
Plant identification
Greetings, Sir/Madam! What is the name of that weed that grows ubiquitously in St. Augustine, Fl (literally overnight when it rains) and has two skinny "arms", with little greenish beads on the arm...
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St. Augustine, FL
Identity of garlic-like plant in Florida
Please tell me what this plant is. It is not Society Garlic and it is not Meadow Garlic. It has THREE curling purple leaves and lots of bulbs flowering from the same stalk. The pointy leaves are edg...
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St. Augustine, FL
Dwarf foundation plants for St. Augustine FL
Need to put in fast, low growing (3' max) foundation plants that would be frost hardy and work well in the St. Augustine area of Northeast Florida.
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St. Augustine, FL
Looking for a source for Dollarweed in St. Augustine FL.
I need a source of Dollar Weed Seed and/or plants. The back yard has been regraded to correct direction of rain water drainage.
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St. Augustine, FL
Late blooming Esperanza in St. Augustine FL
I bought an Esperanza at a plant expo- I was told it was a Florida native Allamanda. It took me two years to figure out what I had. Mine grows 8 ft. tall and is huge! But it doesn't bloom until alm...
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St. Augustine, FL
Pruning of wax myrtle in St. Augustine FL
How severely can we prune our wax myrtle? It had grown 10 feet tall and very spindly and we want it to be a border hedge in front of the preserve in back of our yard.
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St Augustine, FL
Flowering plants for shade in St. Augustine FL
I would like to know what flowering plants I can purchase that grow in a shaded area in St Augustine Florida
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St. Augustine, FL
Will non-native and invasive Mexican petunias grow under oak trees from St. Augustine FL
Will Mexican Petunias grow under an Oak tree?
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Middleburg, FL
Plant identification
Dear Mr. Smarty Pants,
Hopefully you can help identify the following plant. I've had a bush type of weed growing near my hay feeder for the cows this year that's about 2' tall has massive spikes o...
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Middleburg, FL
Weird growth on oaks in Middleburg FL
Dear Mr. Smarty Plants;
I have this plant/fungus that grows on my trees here in northeast Florida & nobody has been able to identify it for me. It looks like a clump of pine needles growing on the ba...
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Bandera, TX
Mountain laurels with insect problems in Bandera, TX..
I have 3 mountain laurels about 8 yrs old. Suddenly about 3 yrs ago worms started decimating them. This yr I got dipel dust which works great but only for two weeks. I now have small red flies and ...
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Jacksonville, FL
Difference in native and non-native cherry laurel
I have a backyard volunteer that I have identified as a cherry laurel, but how do I tell the Carolina from the non-native? This is still young (2 years or so), and not flowering, at least not now.
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Jacksonville, FL
What would replace non-native orange tree leaves in butterfly hatchery?
I have a very small orange tree that currently has dozens of caterpillars on it that look like bird droppings. I think I have narrowed them down to a swallowtail butterfly. I would love to let them ma...
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Jacksonville, FL
Invasive non-native mulberry and groundcover in Jacksonville FL
Northeast Florida (Jacksonville) inland. My mulberry tree provides dense shade in the summer and filtered light the other seasons, leaving sand in its growing area. What fast growing ground cover woul...
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Jacksonville, FL
Native Groundcover Suggestions for Under Florida Oak Trees
I am looking for native plants that will do well under several oak trees in Northeast Florida. My yard doesn't get much sun and I'm told I have acidic soil. Are the any plants that would do well wit...
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Jacksonville, FL
Identification of tree with strawberry-like fruit in North Carolina
While visiting Boone, North Carolina we walked the Greenway in town. There were a few trees with a round red fruit similar to a strawberry. They were about the size of a penny and a dull red color dot...
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Jacksonville, FL
Century Plant
I have a century plant that has just begun to bloom. I have a transplanted a few pups, successfully. I am wondering how I am to go about removing the mother plant once it blooms and dies. I'm reading...
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Jacksonville, FL
Trying to find a plant called sheepshire
Hey there Mr. Smarty Plants, just one question. As a child in east Tennessee, we picked plants called sheepshire that looked like small clover leafs and had small yellow blooms.
One could chew these...
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