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.
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Wednesday - October 24, 2007
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Trees
Title: Native trees as alternatives to Japanese Red Maple
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
Where can I find some Japanese Red Maples to collect seed?ANSWER:
The focus and expertise of the Wildflower Center is with plants native to North America and, while Acer palmatum (Japanese red maple) is not considered invasive, it is native to Japan and other Asian countries and NOT North America. Doubtless you could find trees of this species for sale in various local nurseries, but Mr. Smarty Plants would like to urge you to consider a native alternative. Here are some possibilities:Acer grandidentatum (bigtooth maple)
Cotinus obovatus (American smoketree)
Rhus lanceolata (prairie sumac)
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Native violets under maples from Gettysburg PA
July 06, 2012 - Just for your info (no need to post or reply), I saw an old post of a question of something to grow under maples. In central PA, native violets grow very well under several species of maples in lawns...
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Alternatives to tuliptree and red maple in Central Texas
August 03, 2007 - I live in southwest Austin, TX, nearby a creek. The soil is very heavy with clay.
I've been perusing web sites for trees, and we like the "Summer Red Maple" and "Tulip Poplar" trees very much, m...
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Possible sawflies on loblolly pine (Pinus taeda)
May 03, 2011 - My pine trees looked great a week ago, now one from top to bottom is almost without needles. It is covered with greenish caterpillars. They have several stripes down their back . Could these be saw fl...
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Decline of pollinating bees around Mexican plums
March 19, 2007 - Dear Dr. Smarty Plants
While out working in my yard (about nine miles southwest of the Wildfower Center) this morning, I became aware that there was no sound of bees buzzing. I checked our Mexica...
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