Newsletter 2021 April
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NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS N e w s Native Plant Society of Texas, North Central Chapter P Newsletter Vol 33, Number 4 S April 2021 O ncc npsot newsletter logo newsletter ncc npsot © 2018 Troy & Martha Mullens & Martha © 2018 Troy Purple Coneflower — Echinacea sp. T April Program by April 2021 Program David Hopman Creating Beautiful Low Maintenance Polycultures of Native Plants in North Texas: Principles and Examples Bio Page 16 Virtual Meeting Chapter of the Year (2016/17) Chapter Newsletter of the Year (2019/20) Visit us at ncnpsot.org & Native Polyculture at Hopman residence 4-1-2018 www.txnativeplants.org Index Chapter Leaders President's Corner by Gordon Scruggs ..................... p. 3ff President — Gordon Scruggs Pollinator Pathway by Avon Burton .......................... p. 7 [email protected] Flower of the Month, Carolina Phlox Past President — Karen Harden by Josephine Keeney ........................................ p. 8f Activities & Volunteering for April 2021 Vice President & Programs — by Martha Mullens ....................................... p. 10f Morgan Chivers Everything you need to know about Wildflowers Recording Secretary — Debbie Stilson by Martha Mullens ....................................... p. 11 Treasurer — Position open Answer to last month’s puzzle and a new puzzle ...... p. 12 Hospitality Chair — Corinna Benson, April Calendar” Page by Troy Mullens ..................... p. 13 Traci Middleton Two Uncommon Native Flowers of the Prairie Membership Chair — Beth Barber by Martha Mullens .......................................... p. 14f April Program, Speaker Bio ........................................ p. 16f Events Chair — Position open Membership Report by Beth Barber .......................... p. 18 NICE! Coordinator — Avon Burton Hospitality by Corinna Benson .................................. p. 18 Plant Sales Coordinators - Gordon Scruggs March Meeting Minutes by Debbie Stilson ............... p. 19 & Sandy Fountain & Josephine Keeney Parting Shots, News & Views by the Editors ........... p. 20ff Education/Outreach Chair — Open Volunteer Position Opportunites: Must read ........... p. 20 Webmaster — Frank Keeney Farmers Calendar by Troy Mullens ........................... p. 21 Habitat for pollinators .................................................. p. 22 Field Trips — Eric Johnson Member Profile - Michele Cyr ................................... p. 23 Speaker’s Bureau — Theresa Thomas Member Profile - Jim Prentice ................................... p. 24f Donations/Grants Chair — Open iNat Challenge, Forest Bathing, & Trees .................... p. 26 Parliamentarian — Martha Mullens Prairie Celestial by Martha Mullens .......................... p. 27 Facebook Manager — Open "Plant This and Not That" by Karen Harden ............ p. 28 Newsletter Editor — Troy Mullens Rough-leaf Dogwood by Martha Mullens ............... p. 29f [email protected] SW Regional Library Demo Garden by Sheila Franklin .......................................... p. 30 Assistant Newsletter Editor — Recommended Plants List (Complete) ..................... p. 31f Martha Mullens This Year's Programs by Morgan Chivers ................. p. 33 Southwest Subcourthouse Garden Leaders Prairie Verbena, NICE! Plant of the Season (Spring) Gailon Hardin & Dawn Hancock by Dr. Becca Dickstein .................................... p. 34 Native Plant Gardens at the Southwest Spring Plant Sale by Sandy Fountain ......................... p. 35 Regional Library Leaders — White Settlement Monarch Way Station ................... p. 35 Join NPSOT, Mission Statement, next Meeting ........ p. 36 Theresa Thomas & Char McMorrow Newsletter Submission Requirements ...................... p. 36 Molly Hollar Wildscape Garden Leader — Ann Knudsen Fielder House Garden Leaders — Josephine Keeney & Jane Osterhuis O.S. Gray Natural Area — Questions, Josephine Keeney White Settlement Waystation — Comments ? Merita Knapp & Sandy Fountain Publicity Chair — Chairperson needed Use this link below ! & Martha Mullens Troy ©2017 NLCP Classes Coordinator — [email protected] Sandy Fountain, Theresa Thomas The President’s Corner - April 2021 - by Gordon Scruggs I hope you and your family are well. We are very hap- plants that they rely on for their survival. Without the py that we have all been vaccinated at our house. Liv- native plants, most native insects would disappear. As ing with my 93-year old father, being vaccinated gives milkweed populations have been reduced by urban- us a sense of relief. With the historic winter storm in ization, agriculture, and the harvesting of natural re- February, I have been watching my gardens to see how sources, the Monarch butterfly populations have also the natives fared. Here in Grapevine the temperature declined and now this beautiful insect may soon be went down to four below. extinct. What the NPSOT is doing is important to fu- ture generations. The cold weather appeared to have no effect on our trees, including cedar elms / Ulmus crassifolia, I want to thank each of you for being a member of our sand post oak / Quercus margaretta, yaupon / Ilex great organization. If you have any questions or just vomitoria, and osage orange (bois-d’arc) / Maclura want to talk natives, please contact me at pomifera. I cannot as yet tell the effects on my bushes, [email protected]. except the autumn sage / Salvia greggii which is do- ing fine (see attached photo). The forbs I am not so sure about. It looks like the scar- Many eyes go through the meadow, let sage / Salvia coccinea and wood fern / Thelypteris but few see the flowers in it. kunthii died. In my experience scarlet sage does not do well in areas exposed to the cold north wind. So Ralph Waldo Emerson its demise does not surprise me. I tossed out some seed, so I will have plenty blooming by early summer. It looks like the rest of the forbs fared very well. I have attached photos of some my plants with new spring growth. Since I am not very good at identifying na- tive forbs until they bloom, the photos with question marks are my guess at what they are. If you see any I misidentified, please let me know. I read a very interesting article in Science (Plants & Animals, March 4, 2021) about butterflies. Research in to why butterflies are vanishing in the western U.S. turned up some surprising results. Habitat reduction and pesticides are often blamed for the rapid decline of insects. However, the study found that warmer weather caused by climate change may be having a greater impact. I feel we are at a critical time in history with hu- mans being a major contributor to climate change and the rapid decline of insects. The famous botanist Four-nerve daisy / Tetraneuris scaposa is the first E.O. Wilson said that if insects disappeared from the spring flower in my gardens. 3/21 earth, this loss would cause the extinction of near- ly all terrestrial life, including humans. Studies have shown that 70% or more of the insects in an area have an evolutionary relationship with their local native Continued on Page 4 April 2021 NPSOT News North Central Chapter Page 3 The President’s Corner - April 2021 - by Gordon Scruggs Continued from Page 3 ?Bee balm (Wild bergamot) / Monarda fistulosa? 3/21 ?Cedar sage / Salvia roemeriana? 3/21 ?Lanceleaf coreopsis / Coreopsis lanceolata? 3/21 ?Prairie coneflower / Ratibida columnifera? 3/21 Photos © Gordon Scruggs © Gordon Photos Continued on Page 5 Page on Continued Autumn sage / Salvia greggii with new growth com- Coral honeysuckle / Lonicera sempervirens 3/21 ing up from under the dead stems 3/21 April 2021 NPSOT News North Central Chapter Page 4 The President’s Corner - April 2021 - by Gordon Scruggs Continued from Page 4 Dixie iris / Iris hexagona 3/21 Engelmann (cutleaf) daisy / Engelmannia peristenia 3/21 Continued on Page 6 Page on Continued False nettle / Boehmeria cylindrica 3/21 Four-nerve daisy 3/21 Photos © Gordon Scruggs © Gordon Photos Frostweed / Verbesina virginica 3/21 Golden columbine / Aquilegia chrysantha 3/21 April 2021 NPSOT News North Central Chapter Page 5 The President’s Corner - April 2021 - by Gordon Scruggs Continued from Page 5 Maximillian sunflower / Helianthus maximilliani Mealy blue sage var. Henry Duelberg / Salvia farina- 3/21 cea var. H. Duelberg 3/21 Prairie verbena / Glandularia bipinnatifida (NICE! Standing cypress / Ipomopsis rubra 3/21 plant of the season) 3/21 Photos © Gordon Scruggs © Gordon Photos Sundrops (day primrose) / Calylophus berlandieri 3/21 Winecup / Callirhoe pedata 3/21 Continued on Page 7 April 2021 NPSOT News North Central Chapter Page 6 The President’s Corner - April 2021 - by Gordon Scruggs Continued from Page 6 Photos © Gordon Scruggs © Gordon Photos Tall goldenrod / Salidago canadensis 3/21 Texas thistle / Cirsium texanum 3/21 Pollinator Pathway - by Avon Burton Judging by the beautiful blooms on the Mexican Plum trees the Pollinator Pathway is waking up. I enjoy working on this project at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden to help increase public knowledge of the beauty and benefits of native plants and the important role they play for pollinators. Mexican Plum Pollinator Pathway Natives sign photo Pollinator pathway Photos © Avon Burton April 2021 NPSOT News North Central Chapter Page 7 Carolina Phlox — Flower of the Month for April Story & Photographs by Josephine Keeney Carolina Phlox, Thick-leaf Phlox, Phlox Carolina This lovely Texas native is a perennial herb There are many native Phlox in Texas. with an intoxicating fragrance. Drummond phlox, Phlox drummondii,