Native Plants
![](../_images/smarty_plants.gif)
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.
![](../_images/mr_smarty_plants_logo_web_200w.jpg)
rate this answer
![](../_images/star_00.gif)
Tuesday - March 22, 2011
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identity of plant at Zilker Botanical Gardens
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I am trying to identify a large flowering shrub I saw at Zilker Botanical Gardens. The bloom looks like a small chrysanthemum bloom that has been ruffled. The bloom are yellow, white, or pink. We had them when I was a little girl and they grew on a fence and cascaded down. The ones I saw recently are in a large bush, almost a tree. The one was next to the white gazebo at the start of the Mabel David Rose Garden, to the southeast about 20 feet.ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants would like to help but this doesn't sound like a native plant and what we are all about here at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is "to increase the sustainable use and conservation of native wildflowers, plants and landscapes." That means we don't always do well on identifying non-native ornamentals and it is especially difficult to identify plants with a description alone. There is a way that you can find out what it is, however.
Ask the people at Zilker Gardens! Since they are on the spot, they can take a stroll out to the gazebo and find out what it is.
From their webpage I found an e-mail address to contact them: [email protected]
They should be able to tell you what it is using your description of the plant and where it is located.
Alternatively, you could give them a call at 512-477-8672.
More Plant Identification Questions
Is there an App for that?
June 05, 2012 - Do you have an app like leafsnap that my students can use to identify the plants around our school? I would like them to take a picture of the leaf of each plant with their iPads and have your data b...
view the full question and answer
Identification of small mint-like plant in Virginia
May 19, 2013 - I am looking for a mint plant my mother use to have but we didn't plant. It grew in Earlysville, Virginia in red clay soil. The cat loved it but it was neither catnip nor catmint. It was under six in...
view the full question and answer
Identification of volunteer tree
April 28, 2011 - I have a volunteer tree in my yard that has a mixture of serrated, non-serrated, and partially-serrated leaves on it. My tree identification guides all assume either serrated or non-serrated. How do...
view the full question and answer
How common is white blooming Mountain Laurel
April 01, 2003 - Is white blooming Mountain Laurel common?
view the full question and answer
Plant identification
September 30, 2007 - We found this plant or something or other in our yard, in the area we found it usually stays wet and it was behind a old tree that was done. It has three big green leaves with a white stem that kind ...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |