N North Central Texas P NewsNative Plant Society of Texas, North Central Chapter Newsletter Volume 25, Number 7, August 2013 S The President’s Corner Theresa Kay Thomas On July 20, 2013 I was able to attend my first State Board O Meeting in Brenham. The meeting started with introductions and we were all presented these questions: “What are the greatest threats to habitats or invasive species issues in your region? Is your chapter engaged in addressing the issue in some way?” It was interesting to hear from chapters all over T the state. As a member of the North Texas Chapter, what would be your response? A new NPSOT bumper sticker slogan was approved — Chapter Leaders NATIVE PLANTS=HEALTHY HABITATS. They will be available Theresa Thomas - President once the artwork is done and stickers printed. [email protected] continued on page 4 Starr Krottinger - Vice President (Programs) Gailon Hardin - Treasurer [email protected] Martha Mullens- Secretary August meeeting Patti Maness- NICE! Coordinator Frank Keeney - Communications Thursday, August 1, 7:00 pm [email protected] Orchid Room, Deborah Beggs Moncrief Garden Center, Gailon Hardin & Dawn Hancock - Southwest Subcourthouse Fort Worth Botanic Gardens Garden Leaders Theresa Thomas & Bill Hall - Teresa Moss will present The Bob Jones Nature Cen- Hulen Regional Library Garden Leader ter: Its history; what it is; Eastern Cross TImbers; Nancy Price - Hospitality Chair and the master plan for consevation and restoration Char McMorrow - Membership Chair Teresa Moss is the new Executive Director at the Bob Jones Dawn Hancock - Parliamentarian Molly Hollar - Molly Hollar Nature Center in Southlake. Before assuming this position she Wildscape Garden Leader was an environmental educator at the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center in Seagoville. She has a Master of Education The purpose of the Native Plant degree and a Master of Science degree in environmental sci- Society of Texas is to promote the conservation, research, and ence from TCU, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in utilization of the native plants psychology with a minor in biology from UTA. She has over 18 and plant habitats of Texas years of teaching experience in formal and informal science through education, outreach and example. education in public and private schools, over six of which are Visit us at at the university level at TCU. She is a Tarrant County Master Gardener, Cross Timbers Master Naturalist, and Master ncnpsot.org and Composter. txnativeplants.org 2 NPSOT News August 2013 Plant of the Month Josephine Keeney Chocolate daisy, Berlandiera lyrata, Asteraceae (Aster family) This lovely little flower is not very well known around this area but should be used more because of all its delightful features. Not only does the flower smell like chocolate, but if you look at it from the back it shows neat streaks of orange along the petals. The flowers are reported to be good for seasoning but I haven’t tried them yet. The immature seed cup looks like a flower itself and the mature seed cup looks very pretty with silky membranes holding the seeds, which are produced con- tinuously. The foliage of this perennial is gray-green and velvety with a very pretty pattern. Its bloom period is from April to November, which makes it very desirable for the home garden. Just give it sun or part shade and a little water and it will re- ward you with its unique beauty. 13 Find more native plant information at www.texasstar.org, a forum for Texas gardeners dedicated to the cultivation and propagation of Texas native plants. August 2013 NPSOT News 3 Earning Money for Native Plant Projects Dawn Hancock North Central Chapter is lucky to have three native plant projects which are also Master Gardener projects. These are Hulen Street Library, Molly Hollar Wildscape, and Southwest Subcourthouse gardens. At the July meeting (which occurred June 27th this year), the Tarrant County Master Gardener Association held a garage sale and silent auction to raise money for all the projects the Master Gardeners are in- volved in. Each project provided an item for the silent auction. The proceeds of the garage sale are divied up between the projects, but the silent auction item’s sale price belongs to the project. Hulen Street Library raised $150.00 for its garden, Molly Hollar Wildscape $120.00 for theirs, and $80.50 for the South- west Subcourthouse garden. The North Central Chapter Welcomes New Members! Lena Goff Susan & Mike Fortin Diana Fortin Claire Vann Sharon & Jack Hayes Carol Harvey Native Plant Landscaping Certification Program Merita Knapp Save the Date! family, friends, neighbors, cowork- In addition to classroom time, There will be a Level One ers and anyone else interested in a plant walk to check out some of Native Landscaping Certification environmentally friendly AND the Texas natives at Botanic Program class at the Fort Worth great looking landscaping! Gardens is included. Botanic Gardens on Sunday, For those of you already knowl- September 29. This will be the edgeable on the subject, this is a The NLCP coordinator will be first NLCP class held at the great way to add some credentials sending official email notification Botanic Gardens, and the only one for those times you help spread with hours, fees, registration this year. the word — whether in a formal forms, etc. Please be sure to mark Attendance is open to the setting, or just talking to your your calendar if you’re interested general public, so bring your friends. in attending. 4 NPSOT News August 2013 The President’s Corner continued from page 1 A new chapter (Uvalde) was will be announced at the Fall would like to serve on the commit- approved. They had several mem- Symposium in October. tee please contact Carol Feldman. bers at the meeting and we en- Texas Native Plant Week this Each chapter is asked to joyed getting to know them. year will be October 20-26. We will supply a silent auction item for Lots of business was com- have a tour at each of the demon- the Fall Symposium October 17- pleted: The new 2014 State Board stration gardens as last year and 20, so be thinking and let us know was approved and staff-appointed other ideas are being discussed. your suggestions. positions. These are listed in the Native Landscape Certification Between the state events and State Web site. Annual awards Project Committee was set up with our own chapter activities, there’s were voted on and approved. They Carol Feldman as chair. If you a lot coming up. Consider the Common Sunflower Laura Penn What’s Blooming Now? I used sunflowers this year to Finally, sunflowers work well It is the middle of another hot create a screen where my wrought as a background and frame around summer in North Central Texas. iron gate exposes my backyard to any low- to medium-height com- Temps are regularly around 100 the alley and traffic that uses it. If mercial sign or the signs so often degrees. Rains are sporadic. So you live on a lot where you see a seen in suburban homeowners what native plant is blooming now neighbor’s house or other view associations to mark the entry to in these conditions? Well, how that you want to screen, this plant the neighborhood. about the Common sunflower, could do the job. Of course, sunflowers want full Helianthus annuus? sun and take almost no supple- I planted a couple of sunflow- mental water. A little water during ers in a newly prepared bed to the hottest parts of the summer provide a bit of dappled shade for will keep their leaves lush and perennials that were newly green, in contrast to the dry, planted in their first season, thus brown leaves you see on the their root systems are not fully sunflowers along the roadsides. If established this summer for the you regularly water sunflowers, full sun conditions that they will they respond favorably with more thrive in next summer when they are a bit older, larger and more growth, more flowers, and a bigger, settled in for the hot dry condi- wider screen, if that is what you tions we get every year. are using them for. Some may scoff at the sugges- They may get so large that tion of planting the common sun- they can fall over on themselves, flower in the landscape because but that can be easily avoided with they are so often seen wild in the a little light pruning when you see fields and disturbed piles of dirt on them start to lean. the roadsides, but here are some Sunflowers also look great in Sunflowers are beneficial to great ways to use this annual plant. the back of a perennial bed or the ecosystem, hosting a number First, it can create a tempo- border. Their height and large of insects, butterflies, native bees rary screen due to its generous leaves are a good contrast to other and birds. From the seeds that the birds drop and leave behind you height of 6’ – 8’, width of 4’ – 5’ and plants’ finer characteristics. will probably have a few sunflowers its large leaves. Use sunflowers’ size again to This plant is an annual, so it coming up next year. If you decide add filler if you planted a new tree will only do this job in the sum- you do not want sunflowers where mer, which could be perfect for in the last year or two, where in the birds planted them, they can those south- and west-facing future years, the tree will grow be easily pulled up in the spring.