Native Plants
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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.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
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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Wednesday - October 29, 2008
From: Kapolei, HI
Region: Other
Topic: Invasive Plants
Title: Invasive iceplant in Hawaii
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
Last time I checked Hawaii was in North America. Invasive or not, iceplant continues to be a much used ground cover etc for golf courses, sides of the freeway and many many City and County projects probably because its cheaper to maintain as far as watering and cutting and weeding. I still could not get my question answered from the sites you sent me..how to get it to flower and how much water it needs. Thanks for any help.ANSWER:
Sorry, we always have problems making ourselves clear. While we would like to answer all questions we receive, Mr. Smarty Plants' expertise is limited to plant species native to North America, their habitats and cultivation. Limited resources require us to decline answering questions that delve into other areas. We hope you understand.
Ice plant, by whatever name, is native to South Africa. Unfortunately, the websites we gave you were what we could find, and since it is a non-native, we do not have it in our Native Plant Database. We like to help, but we can't tell you what we don't know. It sounds like it's growing pretty well all around you without a whole lot of help.
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