News and announcements from our committee chairs, board members, and chapter leaders. Subscribe to our mailing list to stay up to date. For chapter news, visit Chapters. If you are looking for a calendar of events, see our Events Calendar.
Law would require disclaimer on invasives list
**ARCHIVED POST ** A proposed new Texas law (HB 338) would require any public entity other than the Texas Department of Agriculture that produces a list of noxious or invasive terrestrial plant species growing in this state to include a disclaimer.
January 2011
NICE! Plant of the Month (Quercus polymorpha) Family:Fagaceae Other Common Names:Mexican or Netleaf White Oak Type:Moderate sized shade tree, late deciduous, nearly evergreen, resistant to Oak Wilt Natural Habitat:Native to one county in Texas near the Big Bend area and throughout Mexico into Guatemala (USDA Plant Profiles); potential for unreported
Native Grown But Widely Loved
By Delmar Cain By the time this article is printed most of you will know that we no longer have the physical presence of our mentor, teacher and friend, Bill Ward. His death has left many of us with great sadness. For those of you who regularly read his articles,
Mexican white oak – barely native
Mexican white oak or “Monterrey oak” is a medium to large semi-evergreen tree that does well in the Hill Country.
More big red sage found in the Texas Hill Country!
Author: Bill Ward A couple of years ago, Ysmael Espinosa of Medina Garden Nursery and I were discussing the sparse occurrence of big red sage (Salvia pentstemonoides) in the wild. He said he thought he had seen a couple of big red sages several years ago when he was canoeing
Mexican white oak — barely native, but a NICE! tree
Author: Bill Ward Many of us with a predominance of live oaks in our yards are realizing that a greater diversity of trees is highly desirable in the face of the continuing spread of “oak wilt,” which mostly attacks live oak and red oak. During 2011, Operation NICE! (Natives Instead
Our native Poinsettia cousins
Christmas Poinsettia is indigenous to Mexico, but close cousins north of the border have their own special beauty and vibrancy.
New stand of big red sage found
The total number of known wild big red sage plants in Texas is less than 450, making this salvia one of the rarest of our native plants.
‘Maple momma’ does it again
Bigtooth Maples for Boerne is a 10-year effort to bring the beautiful fall colors of our native bigtooth maple into the city of Boerne.
Maple Momma and her volunteers did it again!
Author: Bill Ward For the fifth consecutive year, Maple Momma and her team of volunteers helped add scores of bigtooth maple trees to the streets of Boerne. During 2010, Maple Momma (aka Suzanne Young) took applications from Boerne homeowners and businesses for 104 bigtooth maples. These were distributed free of
Fredericksburg Nature Center — big diversity of native plants in a small area
There were at least 65 different species of native plants in bloom when Delmar Cain and I visited the trails at the Fredericksburg Nature Center (FNC) in late October. This ten-acre jewel of a nature park on the southwestern edge of Fredericksburg is a great place for native-plant lovers to
November-December 2010
NICE! Plant of the Month (Ilex decidua) Family: Aquifoliaceae Other Common Names: Deciduous Holly Type: Multi-trunked small tree with smooth gray bark. Natural Habitat: grows in woods and at edges of swamps in East and Central Texas, south to Victoria, and From Virginia to Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico. Growth:
