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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 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!

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Sunday - August 31, 2008

From: Spalding, NE
Region: Midwest
Topic: Herbs/Forbs
Title: Care for an orchid
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I have another question. How do I care for an orchard. I have had it close to a year and it hasn't grown. How much water do they take.

ANSWER:

We are really hoping that you meant orchid, not orchard. We know about tree care, but caring for a whole orchard of trees might be a bit much. So, we'll give you information we can find on caring for an orchid. If that's not right, get back to us, and we'll try again.

There are literally thousands of orchids found around the world. We searched our own Native Plant Database on Family Orchidaceae, and then Narrow Your Search for Nebraska. This gave us the names of 20 orchids that are native to your state. Since we have no way of knowing what orchid you have, native or non-native, we are going to refer you to the American Orchid Society. On the home page of that site, follow the link to Orchid Information, and then to Orchid Basics. By hunting around on that website, we believe you'll get answers to your questions on orchids. 


Corallorhiza maculata

Corallorhiza odontorhiza

Cypripedium parviflorum

Dactylorhiza viridis

Galearis spectabilis

Platanthera hyperborea

Spiranthes lucida

Triphora trianthophora

 

 

 

 

 

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