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.
Tree of heaven or “tree from hell”
**ARCHIVED POST ** A “new” population of exotic trees at Cibolo Nature Center took me by surprise last Friday. Where I expected to find a few tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) saplings, we found 147 plants and some of the trees were huge.
Are those scientific names really necessary?
So many of the commonly used names for plants are useless in trying to convey to someone else exactly which plant is under discussion.
May 2010
NICE! Plant of the Month (Tecoma stans) Description:Yellow bells, a multibranched shrub, can grow to several feet high in this area. With its abundance of dark-green leaves, it’s attractive even between bloomings. But the main attraction of this perennial names it. Intermittently, from April to the first hard freeze, yellow
Esperanza – a hope for summer blooms
**ARCHIVED POST ** As its common name “esperanza” (Spanish for “hope”) seems to suggest, Tecoma stans is our great hope for showy flowers during the heat of late summer. The long-blooming esperanza is a multi-branched shrub which can grow several feet high. Its abundant green foliage makes it an attractive
Rescuing native species from urban sprawl
A good way to ensure that our local native-plant species survive is to transplant them from sites of future construction to community gardens and residential yards.
Lone Star Regional Native Plant Conference
After speaking at over 1,000 programs and attending many more, it’s hard to make myself attend many lectures. But luckily a few come along that truly make a difference. This year’s Lone Star Regional Native Plant Conference is one of them.
Plant Rescue — saving native species during urban sprawl
Author: Bill Ward Agnes Hubbard, co-founder of the Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries (HCDBM), recognized that it would be a shame to destroy all the native plants on the property where her organization will build a new warehouse. Fortunately, HCDBM volunteers Connie and Melvin Carley are familiar with the Plant-Rescue
April 2010
NICE! Plant of the Month (Callicarpa americana) Family: Verbenaceae Type: Perennial multi-branched shrub. Natural Habitat: Prefers moist woods and stream terraces. Range is from Bermuda, Cuba and Florida, north to Maryland and west to Bexar and Kendall counties. Growth: 3 to 7 feet. Deer Resistance: Deer rarely touch its leaves.
An American beauty
American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is an easy-to-grow shrub that does well in the shade of large trees.
The state of Texas trees
The 10th Native Plant Spring Symposium, co-sponsored by the Native Plant Society and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, will be April 24, 2010
NICE! plant for April — an American beauty
Author: Bill Ward Operation NICE! (Natives Instead of the Common Exotics!) recommendation for April is another top-favorite landscape plant — American beautyberry. This is a planning-ahead recommendation. American beautyberry won’t be at its showiest for months, but this is a good time to plant beautyberries for fall gratification. During early
Helping school children grow native
**ARCHIVED POST ** It was not that much of a stretch for me to get more interested in native plants after retirement, because as a geologist I was often in the field describing rocks and paying attention to the plants that characterized the outcrops of different strata. Some plants even
