NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS N e w s Native Plant Society of Texas, North Central Chapter P Newsletter S Vol 31, Number 4, April 2019 O ncc npsot newsletter logo newsletter ncc npsot © 2018 Troy & Martha Mullens & Martha © 2018 Troy Purple Coneflower — Echinacea sp. T April 4, 2019 Program April Meeting “Monarch Stewardship in Parker County” Program by Megan Davis McConnell by Megan Davis McConnell Normal Meeting Times: 6:00 Social, 6:30 Business 7:00 Program Lecture Hall Deborah Beggs Moncrief Garden Center Fort Worth Botanic Garden Chapter of the Year (2016/17) Visit us at ncnpsot.org & Program details on Page 33 www.txnativeplants.org Index Chapter Leaders President’s Corner by Karen Harden ......................... p. 3f Crazy Plant Ladies through the ages President — Karen Harden by Martha Mullens .......................................... p. 5ff [email protected] Flower of the Month, Bluebonnet Past President — Kim Conrow by Josephine Keeney ........................................ p. 8f Vice President & Programs — Activities & Volunteering for February 2019 Ray Conrow by Martha Mullens ....................................... p. 10ff Mullein by Martha Mullens ....................................... p. 13ff Recording Secretary — Debbie Stilson Stork's bill by Troy Mullens ....................................... p. 16 Treasurer — Vanessa Wojtas Membership by Donna Honkomp ............................ p. 17 Hospitality Chair — Corinna Benson 2019 - Area Native Plant Sales .................................. p. 17 Membership Chair — Donna Honkomp Bluebonnet, NICE! Plant of the Season Events Chair — Chairperson needed by Dr. Becca Dickstein ..................................... p. 18 NICE! Coordinator — Rozanna Francis Answer to last month’s puzzle and a new puzzle ...... p. 19 Plant Sales Coordinators - Gailon Hardin, “April Calendar” Page by Troy Mullens .................... p. 20 Feb. Meeting Minutes by Debbie Stilson .................. p. 21f Sandy Fountain & Josephine Keeney Prairie Notes 147 by Don Young ............................... p. 23 Education Chair — Bill Freiheit Chisholm Trail Community Park Webmaster — Frank Keeney By Donna Honkomp ....................................... p. 24 Field Trips — Eric Johnson March Program by Ray Conrow ............................... p. 25 Speaker’s Bureau — Theresa Thomas Hospitality Report by Corinna Benson .................... p. 25 Outreach Chair — Laura Penn Demonstration Gardens Parliamentarian — Martha Mullens by Gailon Hardin w/ Josephine Kinney ........ p. 26 April Program Summary & Bio ................................. p. 33 Facebook Manager — Sandra Fountain American Women Botanists: Newsletter Editor — Troy Mullens by Martha Mullens .......................................... p. 34f [email protected] Mary Motz Wills by Martha Mullens ....................... p. 36f Assistant Newsletter Editor — Field Trips by Eric Johnson ........................................ p. 36 Martha Mullens Ohio Spiderwort by Suzette Rogers .......................... p. 37f Southwest Subcourthouse Garden Leaders American Beautyberry by Karan Rawlins ................ p. 39f Gailon Hardin & Dawn Hancock Parting Shots by the Editors ....................................... p. 41f NC Texas Pollinator Garden Plants ........................... p. 44 Native Plant Gardens at the Southwest Join NPSOT, Mission Statement, May Program ....... p. 45 Regional Library Leaders — Theresa Thomas & Char McMorrow Molly Hollar Wildscape Garden Leader — Ann Knudsen Fielder House Garden Leaders — News Flash ******************** Josephine Keeney & Jane Osterhuis Publicity Chair — Vicki Gleason Membership price NLCP Classes Coordinator — increases April 1. Merita Knapp & Martha Mullens Troy ©2017 Meeting in the Lecture Hall The President’s Corner - April 2019 - by Karen Harden Sometimes, it seems, life gets in the way of life. waste your money buying rice hulls. There are a On one side, life, this past month has been cra- few native seed companies that offer true Texas zy with work, family, friends, spring break, and native seeds. Google Texas native seed compa- chapter business. On the other, my nature life, nies to see what is out there. If you are interested which is to spend time in my little pocket prairie, in live plants, there are many plant sales com- seems to have been put on the back burner. Al- ing up. Check out our website for a listing of though I enjoyed every minute of life, well, most area sales. Our Chapter’s plant sale is May 4 at of it, I find I myself yearning to get back to nature the River Legacy Park Elm Grove Pavilion in Ar- to restore my soul. I need a good dose of it. I had lington. Come early! We have grown into a very plans for this winter to begin creating native plant popular plant sale. There is usually a line waiting gardens my yard. But, alas, I am behind the curve when we open at 10:00 a.m. Many volunteers ball again this year. So, it is my little plot of land will be on hand to help you with your selections. that I will enjoy with it’s bluebonnets, mallows, We even have wagons to help haul your bounty paintbrushes, prairie verbena, and antelope milk- to your vehicle. weeds for my spring viewing pleasure. I’ll even Another event that is happening April 26-29 is share a few pictures with you. the 3rd annual iNaturalist City Nature Challenge. During a 4-day bioblitz, competing cities and their citizens snap pictures of plants and wildlife, and even evidence of Wildlife. Then they upload their pictures to the iNaturalist App. It is a fun way to get out, observe nature and compete with other cities while helping scientists, experts, and other naturalists across the globe. For more in- formation visit iNaturalist.org. From here you can download the app from the AppStore or Google Play. Once you have the app, start shar- ing your observations. I cannot offer much advice for your gardens, ex- cept that if you are planning to create native gar- dens, know your plant needs, i.e. soil preference, Gardens are not made by light requirements, water needs. If you buy seeds, singing “Oh, how beau- be sure to read the mixture. Just like food prod- tiful” and sitting in the ucts, the first listing is the most prevalent. Buying seeds from “box” stores, the first seed in the pack- shade. et may be African daisies. Folks, we live in Texas. Rudyard Kipling We do not need African daisies in our landscapes. Also, be aware of fillers such as rice hulls. Don’t Presidents Corner More Photos on Page 4 Continued on Page 4 April 2019 NPSOT News North Central Texas Chapter Page 3 The President’s Corner - April 2019 - by Karen Harden Continued from Page 3 Bluebonnets Jewel beetle Carolina phlox Paint brush April 2019 NPSOT News North Central Texas Chapter Page 4 Crazy Plant Ladies Through the Ages - by Martha Mullens Women Naturalists, Botanists, & Horticulturists Who Made History by Stephanie Rose This is not a book review, but rather a review of since that was an accepted pastime for women. an article from a blog on-line. I will only write a Later she began more careful studies of living shortened version about two of them. It will be subjects, especially insects. worth your time to read all of it. The text will edu- cate you, the artwork is spectacular, and the pho- Her precise drawings of carefully detailed insects tos interesting. The article is about seven women look more like the work of a naturalist than an who have shaped the study of botany because of amateur artist. Starting in 1675 she published the their enthusiastic love for plants and nature. Don’t first volume of what would become a three-vol- feel bad if you haven’t heard of most of them. I ume series of beautiful botanical illustrations didn't know about four of called Neues Blumenbuch them. Three are not Ameri- (The New Book of Flowers). can and none are Texan, but Each volume contained 12 their stories are fascinating plates which she hand col- and inspiring. ored on vellum using water- colors and gouache because Until perhaps the 20th cen- women were not allowed to tury women were excluded paint in oil. from the scientific studies of plants. It was acceptable for Marian shifted her focus women to collect, record, from the plants with in- and draw natural objects, sects on them, to the insects but this was deemed a hob- themselves. In her time, in- by. The painting of plants or sects were considered in- animals was qualified as art, consequential and not wor- no matter how accurate and thy of scientific inquiry. detailed the drawing. There were many common Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) misconceptions about the However, such women as Maria Sibylla Merian metamorphosis of insects. Her painstaking stud- (1647-1717) opened the door to the studies of ies shed new insight into their life cycles. Over the natural world by women. Because Merian was her lifetime, she collected and observed the life born in Prague and lived most of her life in Am- cycles of 186 different insect species. sterdam, you probably have never heard of her. In 1679, she published The Caterpillars’ Mar- During her lifetime, she was a respected artist velous Transformation and Strange Floral Food, of plants and insects. At first, she copied some which was a detailed study of the metamorphosis drawings of flowers from other famous artists of butterflies. She was the first person to careful- of her time because the primary reason for her ly observe the eating behavior of caterpillars and artwork was to serve as patterns for embroidery discovered which food plants were necessary for Continued on Page 6 April 2019 NPSOT News North Central Texas Chapter Page 5 Crazy Plant Ladies Through the Ages - by Martha Mullens Continued from Page 5 which species of butterfly. Her work went on to to produce photograms. A photogram is a photo- influence many male scientists, including Carl graphic image made by placing an object directly Linnaeus (responsible for the binary system of on photosensitive paper and exposing it to light. naming plants and animals by genus and species) No camera is involved. I used to do this as a child and Charles Darwin. myself. It is as much fun watching it develop as a Polaroid photo.