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The Grapevine
Williamson County Chapter Native Plant Society Newsletter
December 2007/January 2008 |
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Correction
In the previous issue, the Legume family name for Acacia should have been Fabacae not Leguminosae. Leguminosae was the previous name of this family.
December Meeting December 13; 7:00 PM Georgetown Public Library 2nd Floor Meeting Room
Come join us for our Annual Pot Luck Social and Silent Auction Bring your favorite dish to share. Drinks will be provided.
Bring items for the Silent Auction that you would not mind acquiring for yourself. Items may be new or gently used.
There will be a very brief business meeting.
January Meeting January 10; 7:00 PM Georgetown Public Library 2nd Floor Meeting Room
Tricia Martin, owner of Forever Gardens, will be our speaker. Forever Gardens nursery has a variety of native and adapted plants. Program to be announced.
Field Trip to Brushy Creek Lake Park and New Champion Park Sunday, January 13, 2 PM
This event has been rescheduled. Directions to Brushy Creek Lake Park:
From Georgetown, take IH-35, exit 256 West on 1431 5.5 miles to 5th traffic light. Turn left on 734 (Parmer Lane) 1.9 mi. to next light. (Shell station on left). Turn left onto CR 174, Brushy Creek Road. Turn right into Brushy Creek Lake Park and meet between two pavilions. Contact Kathy McCormack, VEFL21@yahoo.com, or phone no. 698-9880 if you have questions.
Meeting minutes can be found on the website http://www.npsot.org/WilliamsonCounty/.
November 8 Program Notes By Marilyn Perz
Cindy Wehling introduced Patricia Felder, a local Chiropractor who has a practice at Georgetown Family Wellness and has been in Georgetown for 23 years. Patricia, herself a gardener, received her first native plants from Nina Erminger a long time NPSOT member. By the year 2050 she stated that life expectancy will be up to 105 years. She wants everyone to be able to continue gardening, but without getting arthritis in the hips, knees and lower back.
Dr Felder explained that the nervous system develops on the 16th day after conception and it then controls and coordinates the development of all the other tissues and systems. Nerves go to all parts of your body and your spine protects those nerves. Any misalignment or pressure on any of these nerves will cause problems. “Baby your back” she advised. A baby needs to crawl to exercise its back and develop intellectually. Just like the baby you need to keep that forward curve in your lower back and your neck. Maintain your neck alignment when you sleep on you side by choosing a pillow as high as your shoulder width and keep your leg at a neutral position by placing a pillow between you knees. It may take you 30 days to learn this habit but if you make your spine healthier you will be able to withstand and avoid injuries.
Other good advice Dr Felder gave us included:
See that your car fits you. Sit in the seat and swing both your legs into the car. Set a timer when you work at the computer and move every 30 minutes. Keep your monitor at your eye level and your arms relaxed at neutral for your keyboard height. Lift and carry objects with bent elbows and knees. Keep that forward curve in your back and neck. Fifteen minutes rocking in a rocking chair is good for circulation. The backpack you carry should no more than 15% of your body weight. When you sit, have good support. Don’t over reach, instead step and shift your weight. Stand on cushioned floor mats. Buy good tools for your home and garden. Even as the weather cools, keep hydrated by drinking water. If you over exert, use a soft gel ice pack on your lower back to promote healing or add ½ cup of apple cider vinegar to your bath to pull out the lactic acid.
Dr Felder did remind us that a Chiropractor is always there to “Tune up your body”.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Fall Plant Sale and Garden Festival
Left to Right: Charles Wiseman, Janet Church, Sue Wiseman, Marilyn Perz, Black Wehling, Cindy Wehling, Kathy Henderson, and Dennis Perz.
Joint NPSOT/NPAT Symposium
Williamson County Chapter hosted the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) and Native Prairies Association of Texas (NPAT) 2007 Joint Symposium, “The Blackland and Grand Prairies and Grasslands of the Edwards Plateau”, October 18-21
Wow, what a Symposium! Attendees learned about the incredible Texas tallgrass prairies and beautiful native prairie flowers and grasses, the wildlife that calls them home, efforts to conserve and restore prairies, and water-conserving and wildlife friendly home landscaping with native prairie plants. The tallgrass prairie, America’s most endangered large ecosystem, is home to a extraordinary diversity of native plants and wildlife including the grassland birds, the most declining group of birds in North America. Texas’ tallgrass prairie regions are the Blackland Prairies, the Grand Prairies, and the Coastal Prairies and Texas’ native savannas include the Edwards Plateau.
It was a long haul from Phyllis Dolich’s original idea to have our chapter host the event, to all the early planning and solid groundwork she and Jason Spangler laid, to the final spectacular product. There are so many people to thank, let me try to list a few key people and if you don’t see your name, please know that you are appreciated and were a vital part of the success. The Planning Committee consisted of: Randy Pensabene (NPSOT Co-Chair), Jason Spangler (NPAT Co-Chair), Billye Adams, Barbara Coutant, Phyllis Dolich, Kathy Galloway, Jennifer Hamann, Dennis Perz, Marilyn Perz, Agnes Plutino, Lisa Spangler, Bill Sterling, Shirley Sterling, Susan Waitz, and Sue Wiseman. Other significant contributors of time and expertise included Janice Charnley, Lynn Mann, Kathy McCormack, Roberta Mitchell, Phil Pensabene, Charlie Wiseman and Jan Woolheater. Major sponsors included the Del Webb Corporation, the City of Georgetown, the Dixon Water Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, Native American Seed, Chase Bank, NPSOT Williamson County, NPSOT Austin and the Sun City Nature Club.
The Master Naturalists, NPSOT, NPAT and Sun City Nature, Hiking, Horticulture, Photograph and Computer club volunteers were there from early morning to late at night to do anything asked of them and more. They handed out registration goodie bags, opened doors, greeted and directed people,
of the prairies, native plants and grasses of the tallgrass prairies and prairie conservation efforts. During Friday afternoon field trips, participants had an opportunity to visit Georgetown’s local parks, prairies and nature trails. Included were our own Agnes Plutino’s pocket prairie, Patty Eason’s native home landscape made up of plants entirely from this region and the Sun City Native Gardens and Native Areas Tour held in conjunction with the Nature Club’s Native Plants Special Interest Group. Of course several of our Williamson County NPSOT member’s homes were included.
Friday evening, a BBQ supper and social was held with live entertainment by a bluegrass band in the open-air pavilion by the lake in Sun City. It was a beautiful night with good food, dancing, and catching up with old friends in the great outdoors.
We had vendors with informative new and antique books, nature jewelry, crafts, native plants, organic supplies, a nature preserve, a conservation assistance organization and other interesting items. Many of our vendors said that it was their best show EVER and several of our new vendors are already looking forward to being at next year’s affair!
Saturday included NPSOT’s traditional silent auction of wonderful items donated by chapters, members, and sponsors with all proceeds to benefiting the NPSOT scholarship fund. The total 2007 Silent Auction proceeds was outstanding.
On Sunday, attendees enjoyed more exciting field trips in the Blackland Prairies, Edwards Plateau and Lampasas Cut Plains vegetative areas of Texas. Included were such places as Traci Wyrick’s wildscape, Falls County Prairies, the Perz property, Indiangrass Preserve, Simpson and Steward Prairies, Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, Tanglewood Prairie, and many more. Each made more special by the guidance of the field trip leaders.
Fall 2007 Tree ID Class Evaluations Summary
From Kathy McCormack
We would like to again thank Heather Brewer (City of Georgetown Planning & Development and Parks & Recreation) for teaching a great class for us on September 27 & 29, 2007. I would like to thank all those that assisted with the class (registration, lecture, and field trip) – Marilyn Perz, Vicky Husband, Janet Church, Sue Wiseman, and Kathy Galloway.
There were 25 evaluation respondents out of 33 in the class, and the overall average rating for the course, instructor, and field trip was 4.9 (1 = Poor, 5 = Excellent). The Georgetown Library room temperature will need to be addressed for future classes.
Suggestions for future classes included:
Participants heard about the class from:
General: Membership is 82, an increase of 10% over last year. Between 45-50 members and guests attend monthly meetings which were moved to the new Georgetown library. Chapter members are committed to the tools of education, outreach and example to encourage people to use native flora in their landscapes, property and communities. Our bi-monthly newsletter (now on-line), “The Grapevine” is loaded with news and useful information. Monthly meeting begin with a social, a review of native flora literature, exchange of native seed and flora knowledge and experiences. New members and guests are recognized. A short business meeting is held followed by an educational speaker and often ending with a plant or garden tool raffle. Sold native flora at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (LBJWC) fall and spring native plant sales making money for our chapter and donated over $1,000 to LBJWC, held a silent auction to raise funds and contributed money to the NPSOT State Symposium silent auction. Chapter members offer transportation to non-driving members for plant rescues, workdays, field trips and meetings. Seeds collected from plant rescue sites are catalogued and made available to members and guests. Conducted a native plant class interest survey and planned a class on native trees. Established a phone committee and called each member to connect personally, solicit suggestions, and make sure the member knew about our move to the Georgetown Library. We had two plant exchanges.
Educational speakers and topics at chapter meeting and field trips were: September- Phyllis Dolich “Preview of San Antonio Native Plants in Anticipation of NPSOT06”, October- Cathy Slaughter of Gabriel Valley Farms Nursery “Native and Adapted Herbs for Texas Gardens”, November- Brian and Shirley Loflin, Biologists and co-authors of "Grasses of The Texas Hill Country", December-Social/silent auction, January- Pat McNeal, “Landscaping using Ecology”, February-Judy Barrett, “Organic Gardening”, March- Steven Schwartzman, “Around the Year in Pictures”, April-Billy Chovanec “Native Plant Propagation”, May-Jason Spangler “Native Cacti, Yucca and Related Plants”, June-Bill Carr “Invasive Plants”, July-Pot luck dinner, officer election and member brainstorming session, August- Betty Hughes “Dried Arrangements with Native Plants”. In addition took field trips to view native flora on member’s property, toured Sun City nature trails, and visited Heritage Gardens.
Community service and educational outreach: Worked with GT City Council to develop ordinances for preserving heritage trees; one member trained to assist TPW in Backyard Habitat certification reviews gave programs about wildlife gardening and assisted people in certification application; one member did a talk on water conserving native plants at Spring Garden Festival in Hutto; chapter members involved students in making native plant seed starters at an elementary school science night and during Earth Day Celebration at Gardener’s Paradise Nursery, Spring 2007. Old library garden transititoned to the care of city of Georgetown – care manual created and shared with members – oversight still on-going. Garden still open to the public. Members involved with group developing first commercial green building project in Williamson County. Our chapter was a featured part of Ground Breaking Ceremony. This included plant rescue and instruction on plant rescue to those attending. Chapter donated $500 to help sponsor Wildflower Center Plant Conservation Conference to be held in September, 2007. Member on Conservation Subdivision Ordinance Task Force passed though Georgetown Planning and Development and going to City Council at the end of August 2007. Chapter members planned 2007 NPSOT-NPAT Joint Symposium to be held at Sun City Georgetown in October 2007. Members involved in Berry Springs Park and Preserves Prairie Restoration working group. One member is planning a native tree class and field trip scheduled for September 2007. One of the goals is to label trees on the North San Gabriel River Trail for the benefit of visiting NPSOT symposium attendees.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR: Initiated the NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY LANDSCAPE RECOGNITION AWARD. The Williamson County Chapter chose the Wolf Ranch Town Center in Georgetown, Texas, as the first recipient of our Recognition Award for Landscaping Excellence. Our purposes in creating this award are the following: (1) recognize developers who embrace the use of native plants and do an outstanding job in both landscape design and maintenance, (2) bring public attention to the mall as a demonstration of both the aesthetic and practical advantages of using native grasses, trees, annuals, and perennials, (3) demonstrate to all developers the possibility of aligning their business goals with those of conservation, preservation, restoration-oriented organizations such as NPSOT. Wolf Ranch and the Simon Property Group were commended for the following: (1) vision to design and maintain a native landscape, including driving the research needed to identify and re-introduce those plant species which were native to the Georgetown area prior to the ranching era, (2) success in retaining four outstanding contractors who have done the landscape design and who manage operations and maintenance of the mall landscape, (3) preserving the large trees on the site, including two live oak Heritage Trees, (4) donation of 17 undeveloped acres to the City of Georgetown, which will help preserve the natural beauty of the San Gabriel River as it passes through the City. By calling attention to the accomplishments of the Simon Property Group, we believe that this adds to the quality of living in Georgetown and makes shopping a more pleasant experience. We hope our Recognition Award will spur others to continue on this path of excellence, and we will continue to encourage like approaches in commercial landscaping. The award ceremony was held at 10 a.m. on the premises of Wolf Ranch Town Center July 31. Thirty-five people were in attendance including representatives of each of the five company recipients, four city council members, other Georgetown dignitaries, and Williamson County Chapter members. A front page article appeared in the Williamson County Sun the following day.
I have never in my life seen the native grasses as beautiful as they are this year. It has been incredible. I’m sure the extended early summer rains had a lot to do with it. I use the Big Bluestem and the Indian grass in my Prairie as an example. Most years the Big Bluestem gets three, maybe four feet tall. The same with the Indian grass. This year they were both six to seven feet tall. Little Bluestem, usually maxes out at three feet, this year it is five feet.
Williamson County. The area is fenced but if you ask nicely, and Scott is available, you might get a chance to wander through the tall grasses. I will warn you, it is like walking through rough surf. Earlier this fall we had the opportunity to collect seed from the gene bank. Some of our chapter members took advantage of the opportunity. I had the honor of leading a group of the new Williamson County Master Gardeners as they collected seed for the proposed prairie restoration at Berry Springs. We were accompanied by Susan Blackledge, Berry Springs Park and Preserve Manager and her new assistant, Nicholas. We all had a great time and the master gardeners thanked me profusely and said they had learned a lot. I hope so.
As I’ve explored closer to home I’ve discovered several stands of Big Bluestem I’ve not seen before. I find this totally amazing as big bluestem is the rarest of our tall grasses, having been grazed out. It is much more palatable than Little Bluestem, Indian grass, and Switch grass which are much more prolific and visible in the landscape. The other big grass you will see on a rare occasion is Eastern gamagrass. According to the experts Eastern gamagrass has the best protein content of all the grasses making it an excellent forage grass for cattle. Overgrazing is one reason you may not readily find it. When you do find it, it is usually in lower lying areas with periodic moisture. The only places I’ve it in the county are in the drainage at the end of Church St. in Georgetown and in a field on the east side of Southwestern Blvd. (CR110) some years ago. The field on the east side of Southwestern Blvd. is now full of KB homes. I won’t say which I would rather look at. Another pretty sight is the Bushy Bluestem in the drainage along Quail Valley Blvd. The area is mowed more than necessary (in my estimation) but this year Dennis Perz notified the powers that be that it was being mowed and it appears they ceased and desisted. Now if we could only convince the County’s Road and Bridge crews to “cease and desist”. You will notice in this article I refer to the fields, not the roadsides. That is a totally different story and much to aggravating to discuss here.
There are many beautiful fields covered with native grasses west of the Interstate also. The most obvious of these grasses are the aforementioned big grasses, with the exception of Eastern gamagrass.
It’s winter and lawns have turned brown – or not. Most home lawns are comprised of warm season grasses such as buffalo which go dormant in the winter. However, there is a native perennial Texas bluegrass (Poa arachnifera) that is green in the winter.
This plant is found in sun to part shade conditions in calcareous or sandy clay prairies and oak openings primarily in Blackland Prairie, Cross Timbers and Prairies, and Edwards Plateau. Rainfall varies from 15 to 40” a year. It was frequent but not abundant in the original prairie but has disappeared in areas where it was heavily grazed. However, it does increase under light disturbance and can be mowed. Texas bluegrass provides fair grazing for wildlife and seeds for birds and small mammals. Grass parts are used and nesting and den material. The cultivar ‘Tejas’ has been developed by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and is registered. See reference 9. In addition, Texas bluegrass has been used to develop more heat and drought resistant hybrids of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) resulting in a year round grass. For more information on the above, see references 10 and 11.
References:
1. Correll, Donovan Stewart and Marshall Conring Johnston, “Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas,” The University of Texas at Dallas, 4th Printing, 1996. 2. Diggs, George M. Jr., Barney L. Lipcomb, and Robert J. O’Kennon, Shinners and Mahler’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas,” Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 2nd Printing, 2000. 3. Gould, Frank W., “Common Texas Grasses An Illustrated Guide,” Texas A&M University Press, 3rd Printing, 1998. 4. Hatch, Stephan L., and Jennifer Pluhar, “Texas Range Plants,” Texas A&M University Press, 3rd Printing, 1999. 5. Damude, Noreen, and Kelly Conrad Bender, “Texas Wildscapes Gardening for Wildlife,” Texas Parks and Wildlife Press, 1999. 6. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, http://www.wildflower.org 7. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services Plant Profile, http://plants.usda.gov and Fact Sheet, http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/doc/fs_poar.doc 8. Cleaning and Drill Based Establishment of Texas Bluegrass, http://a-c-s.confex.com/a-c-s/2007am/techprogram/P32990.HTM 9. Crop Science Registration of ‘Tejas 1’ Texas Bluegrass, http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/45/5/2124 10. Hybrid (Kentucky X Texas) Bluegrass for Turf Use http://csuturf.colostate.edu/pdffiles/hybirid%20bluegrass_revised_April2007.pdf 11. Reveille hybrid grass, http://csuturf.colostate.edu/pdffiles/hybirid%20bluegrass_revised_April2007.pdf
The best known species is the beautiful evergreen shrub/small tree Sophora secundiflora, commonly called Texas mountain laurel, Mescal bean or Frijolillo, shown in the picture above. This plant grows from 1.5-12’ high; space 10’ apart. The leaves are usually dense and glossy dark green in color. There are 5 to 11 leaflets per leaf. Showy, extremely fragrant 3-7” drooping clusters of bluish-purple flowers occur in early spring. The constricted semi-woody seed pod, shown below, turns brown when mature. Both flowers and seeds are poisonous. Leaves are unpalatable. Native Americans made necklaces and a narcotic powder from the seeds. This plant is native to limestone soil and is frequently found in brushy vegetation from Travis County to South Texas and west through the southern Edwards Plateau to the Trans-Pecos. It is often found at local nurseries and in area gardens. In the garden, it needs well drained soil and full sun to part shade. Growth is very slow.
open from the base to the tip. Highly constricted 2 to 8” brown seed pods look like necklace beads. These seeds remain on the plant for a year or more. This is a nectar plant for butterflies and moths.
In addition to the above shrubs is the perennial Sophora nuttalliana, commonly called Silky sophora or White loco. This plant grows from 4 to 20” high. Aerial shoots form colonies by means of rhizomes. The grayish foliage is covered with silky hairs. Narrow elongated clusters of white flowers appear in the spring. This plant can be frequently found in grama grasslands in the higher parts of the Texas Panhandle to the Trans-Pecos.
References:
2. Diggs, George M. Jr., Barney L. Lipcomb, and Robert J. O’Kennon, Shinners and Mahler’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas,” Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 2nd Printing, 2000. 3. Wasowski, Sally and Andy, “Native Texas Plants Landscaping Region by Region,” 2nd Edition, Lone Star Books, 1997. 4. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, http://www.wildflower.org 5. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services Plant Profile, http://plants.usda.gov 6. TAMU Horticulture Extension, http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu 7. University of Texas, http://sbs.utexas.edu 8. Southern Group of State Foresters Fact Sheet ST-591, http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/SOPAFFA.pdf
Garden Centers
Wholesale Nurseries
Web Sources
Club Meetings 2nd Thursday of each month 7:00 PM Georgetown Public Library 402 West 8th Street Georgetown Texas 78626
Club Positions
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