NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY OF TEXAS

Kerrville Chapter
FEBRUARY  NEWSLETTER – 2004

NATIVES ON THE GROW
Dedicated to the understanding, preservation and enjoyment of the native flora of the Hill Country

February Program: 

Native Plants for Great Fall Color

Paul Cox of the San Antonio Botanical Garden will give a presentation on Native Plants that provide dependable Fall color at our meeting on Tuesday, February 3^rd beginning at 2 PM.  The San Antonio Botanical Garden opened in 1980 with a mission of connecting people to the plant world through experience, education and research.  Among their gardens are three native areas showing typical plant communities of three regions of  Texas:  the Hill Country (Edwards Plateau), the East Texas Piney Woods and Southwest Texas.  For more information, visit the San Antonio Botanical Garden website at www.sabot.org .

Paul Cox is a co-author of Texas Trees, A Friendly Guide, along with Patty Leslie Pasztor.  The authors met their goal of writing an educational, yet entertaining, book. 

The Kerrville Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas holds monthly meetings on the first Tuesday of the month (September through June) at Riverside Nature Center, 150 Francisco Lemos St. in Kerrville.  These meetings are free and open to the public.  If you have any questions about the Native Plant Society of Texas, or this program, please call June Hartley at 896-5191.  

WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS!

Genevieve Baxter

Virginia deWolf

Mary Palmer

Calendar

Tuesday, February 3 at   2 p.m.  “Native Plants for Great Fall Color” by Paul Cox of the San Antonio Botanical Garden at NPSOT – Kerrville Chapter meeting at Riverside Nature Center, 150 Francisco Lemos St., Kerrville..(see article above)

Wednesday, February 4 at 9 a.m.  “Spring Pruning & Cutting Back”; gardening at our native plant display garden behind the Kerrville Public Library at 505 Water St.  Come learn what to cut back and how much. (See article below).  

Tuesday, February 24 at   7 p.m.  “Flora of Big Bend Country” by Bill Lindemann at NPSOT - Fredericksburg Chapter. at the Gillespie

Tuesday March 2 at   “The Less-Touted Environmental Advantages of Growing Native Plants” by Rufus Stephens of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department at NPSOT – Kerrville Chapter meeting at Riverside Nature Center, 150 Francisco Lemos St., Kerrville.

Three Hill Country Endemic Plants 

Last year, we published a list of endemic plants (plants found only in the Hill Country) provided by Edith Bettinger.  We are now returning to this topic to discuss some Spring-blooming endemic plants, two of which are exceptionally lovely, and the third is very hardy with attractive leaves and flowers.  

	Scarlet Leatherflower Clematis texensis

The Scarlet Leatherflower is one of our three native clematis.  This plant is found in Bandera, Kerr, Kendall, Comal, Blanco, Hays, and Travis counties, and nowhere else in the wild.  It is an uncommon climbing vine that grows over cliffs and shrubs, usually near streams.  The plant climbs with curling, grasping tendrils.  This perennial blooms from April to June with one inch long urn-shaped flowers on vines typically less than ten feet in length.  The showy part of the flower is comprised of four leathery red sepals that are slightly recurved at the tips.  The flower does not open beyond that shown in the photo above.  If pollinated, the flower proceeds to form a fluffy filimentous seedhead that is characteristic of many clematis.  We have seen the scarlet leatherflower blooming in Lost Maples State Natural Area along the trails adjacent to the streams.  This plant is also available from area native plant nurseries.  

Ref:  Marshall Enquist, Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country, p. 30.

Photo by Raul Pena

Prairie Paintbrush

Castilleja Lindheimeri

Prairie Paintbrush is a little known Central Texas endemic plant.  (This plant is not the same as the more commonly seen Indian Paintbrush, also known as Texas Paintbrush, which blankets the roadsides with red flowers in some areas of the Hill Country, although it is in the same Genus).  Prairie Paintbrush grows in clumps comprised of several stems, each 6 -18 inches high.  This native is adapted to dry, rocky caliche soils, and grows throughout the Hill Country, except on the sandy soils of the Llano Uplift.  The leaves and stems appear a soft gray-green in color due to soft hairs on the surface.  The narrow leaves are up to 2.5 inches in length.  The color of the inflorescence (flower) is due to brightly colored bracts.  The actual flowers within the bracts are yellow-green and inconspicous.  This perennial occurs in three varieties in Central Texas, with the varietal occurence corresponding with geographical areas.  The variety Lindheimeri with orange flowers grows in our area, mostly southeast of a line from McLennan to Real Counties.  Two other varieties, one purple and the other yellow, grow in other specific areas of Central Texas.  Prairie paintbrush blooms from March to May.  Look for this plant in sunny meadows and roadsides.

Ref:  Marshall Enquist, Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country, p. 189.

Lindheimer’s Morning Glory

Ipomoea lindheimeri

Lindheimer’s Morning Glory is a hardy perennial vine that thrives in full sun under dry conditions.  This twining vine may sprawl in the grass or climb up to 6 feet in low brush.  This plant is found in the southern portion of Hill Country (including the Kerrville area), but it is usually scattered and infrequent.  The attractive leaves, averaging about 2 inches long and wide, have 3 to 7 deep lobes.  The light blue to lavender flowers are 2 – 3 inches long and wide with white centers.  The flowers open in the morning and typically close before noon.  Lindheimer’s Morning Glory blooms from April to October.  This plant is readily browsed by deer.. I have seen it within our high-fenced area, where it bloomed all season in full sun.  It also grows in our Chapter’s Library Native Plant Garden. 

Ref:  Marshall Enquist, Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country, p. 144.

Library Native Plant Gardens:  Spring Pruning

Come join us on Wednesday, February 4^th at 9 AM as we prepare the Kerrville Public Library Native Plant Display Gardens for the upcoming growing season.  We will be pruning shrubs and cutting back perennials.  If you are new to the area, join us to see which plants we cut and prune, how much, and why.  Participants can take home as much of the pruned material as they wish to root and grow in their gardens.  Many native plants, such as Autumn Sage and Flame Acanthus can easily be rooted to make new plants.  Other plants, such as zexmenia (which has small yellow-orange composite flowers from May to October) and probably the Mexican buckeye tree will still have seeds you can collect to grow in your garden.  If you already know how to do all this, come along to help and share your experience.

Due to inclement weather in January (more winter than we expected in the Hill Country), the Garden Tending Day in January was cancelled at our Chapter meeting the day before.  We apologize to anyone who missed the meeting but showed up to work at the Library Garden.

 “Gardeners Journal” newsletter 

debuts at Plant Haus 2

Leslie Keen and Karen Smith have started a gardening newsletter on topics such as organic gardening, cacti, interesting plants and how to grow them, and activities for each month.  Pick up an introductory copy at the Plant Haus 2.  A subscription is $21/year.

DOOR PRIZES

At our January meeting, our sponsor, Plant Haus 2 donated a colorful gardener’s

 cobbler apron and two nifty devices to raise and lower hanging baskets to water them without spilling or straining to reach the pots.  We also purchased a bulb planter, two handy dandelion diggers, a package of plant labels and an All-in-One Greenhouse to start seeds as door prizes. 

As Spring arrives, we will return to having Native Plants as door prizes.  Every member or visitor who signs in at the Welcoming table receives a free ticket for the door prize drawings.  

REFRESHMENTS!

Thanks go to Gwynn Jackson for the tasty refreshments at our January meeting.  February’s refreshments are kindly being provided by Carol Biggs and Maryallen Meriwether. 

Please send any suggestions or comments on this newsletter to the Editor:  Priscilla Stanley at jpbstan@ktc.com