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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.

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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.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
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Tuesday - June 29, 2010

From: Fairfield, OH
Region: Midwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I live outside of Cincinnati and I have a bush that has long yellowish leaves that grow like a spider plant. Just recently long purple things have grown in the middle of them. Is this normal or should I clip it out?

ANSWER:

Our expertise and focus here at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center are with plants native to North America and your plant doesn't sound like to me any plant native to North America.  If you think it is native to North America, you can send us photos and we will do our best to identify it, tell you what the 'long purple things' are and advise you.  If it is not native to North America, your best would be to photograph it and submit the photos to the UBC Botanical Gardens Plant Identification Forum.
 

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