NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY OF  TEXAS

  Kerrville Chapter

  JUNE NEWSLETTER

NATIVES ON THE GROW

Dedicated to the understanding, preservation and enjoyment of the native flora of the Hill Country

June Program: 

Fire-wise Plants and Landscapes

 

Susan Sander of the Texas Forest Service in  Kerrville will speak on “Fire-wise & Wildlife-Friendly Landscapes and Gardens” at our June 3rd at  Riverside Nature Center beginning at  2 pm .  Many Hill Country homes are surrounded by natural environments, such as parks, greenbelts, rural land, or wildland landscapes which can increase the risk of damage by a wildfire.  As summer approaches and the drought continues, the wildfire risk becomes even greater.

Susan will discuss a series of prudent choices a homeowner can make to mitigate their risk from a wildfire.  Often simple steps, such as the selection of plants, and their placement relative to the home, can make a significant difference in a wildfire situation.  A fire-wise landscape can also be very attractive, both to people and wildlife.

Sander, a native of Wisconsin, holds a BA degree in philosophy and a MA in environmental land-use planning.  After founding Riverside Nature Center in 1987, she served as its education director for ten years.  She has authored a book, Treasury of Texas Wildflowers: The Botanical Watercolors of Marie C.  Wesby.  Sander has served on several environmental committees for the City of Kerrville. 

Calendar

Tuesday, June 3 at 2 PM  Fire-wise and Wildlife-Friendly Landscapes and Gardens by Susan Sander of the Texas Forest Service at NPSOT - Kerrville Chapter meeting held at Riverside Nature Center, 150 Francisco Lemos St, Kerrville

Wednesday, June 4 at 9 AM:  Garden maintenance at the Kerrville Library Native Plant Garden, call John Quinby at 367-4612 for more information.

July and August – No Native Plant Society  - Kerrville Chapter meetings.  Have a wonderful summer!

EARTH DAY CELEBRATION  & MOSTLY NATIVE PLANT SALE

A GREAT SUCCESS!

Many thanks to all of you who volunteered on Earth Day, attended the Nature Seminars and other educational opportunities, and most of all, purchased lots of native plants for your gardens.  We hope that your plants are continuing to prosper in your garden, despite our above-average temperatures and perennially below-average rainfall.  We had excellent participation by Hill Country residents and visitors throughout the day.  We shared considerable information about native plants with the public with the many native plants in our sale, the personalized advice of our plant docents, and the distribution to interested folks of about 200 copies of our native plant brochure, “Recommended Native Plants for Hill Country Landscaping”.  If you don’t have a copy, please pick one up at our Native Plant Society meeting.

We want to thank our sponsor, Medina Garden Nursery, for their generous donation of the following plants:  a Pinyon Pine, a Fragrant Ash,  a Mimosa, a Catalpa, a Retama and a two Shrubby Blue Sage (Salvia ballotaeflora).  Retama is a fast-growing tree that is often covered with small yellow and orange blooms.  Don’t miss seeing the blooming retama at Riverside when you come to our June meeting!  Shrubby Blue Sage is the only woody Hill Country salvia; it forms a shrub up to 6’ tall on dry rocky soils.   

THANKS

The delicious refreshments at our May meeting were provided by Barbara Lowenthal and Carol Biggs.  

Refreshments at our June meeting are being provided by Julia Campbell, Gale Murray Holloway and Kathleen Holloway.

There was no plant raffle in May, since we were still hoping to find homes for plants not purchased in the Earth Day Plant Sale.  Thanks to all who bought these plants.

NOW BLOOMING

RETAMA

	Parkinsonia aculeate

This thorny, green-barked tree has lacey foliage that allows other plants to grow in the dappled shade beneath it.  It prefers full sun and well-drained soils.  Yellow-orange flower clusters appear most profusely in May and then periodically until cold weather arrives.  A retama can grow to 35 feet in height.

Spring Wildflowers:

How To Collect Seeds for Next Year’s Bloom

We have quite a few new members this year, who might want to collect seeds from their wildflowers.  To avoid disappointment, we offer the following tips:

1.  Let the seeds mature fully and dry before you collect them.

2.  Collect in paper containers (not plastic) so the seeds can continue to dry and not develop mold.

3.  Crush any insects you find in the seeds (They will eat your seeds!)

4.  Pick out and discard any other plant material that is not seed.  (It might harbor insects or mold spores.)

5.  Store in a cool, dry place until September

6.  Scatter your seeds in September or October on dirt that has been surface-scratched with a rake. Press seeds into dirt with a roller or your feet.  Do not cover seeds with soil.

7.  Some watering might give a higher germination sooner.  

8.  Be patient.  Enjoy your wildflowers.

A LESS FAMILIAR NATIVE PLANT:  

BARBARA’S BUTTONS

Marshallia caespitos

Barbara’s Buttons grows 6 to 18” tall on sandy or clacareous soils throughout the Hill Country.  The lacey white flowers are about 1.2” in diameter, with just one flower on each stem.  The plant forms a basal rosette of nararow leaves, 1 to 4” long, with fewer shorter leaves further up the stem.  This perennial wildflower blooms in April and May.  

While I have not found the plants for sale, the seeds are available from our sponsor, Native American Seed.  We have their new catalog to distribute at our June meeting, or you can visit their website at www.seedsource.com .  A new “Sustainable Quail and Dove Mix” is being offered this year, as well as numerous other special-purpose native wildflower and native grass mixes.

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