Outdoor
Home and garden show set for Feb. 21-22 in Wichita Falls
Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, [email protected]
Contact: David Graf, 940-716-8610, [email protected]
WICHITA FALLS – The Arts Alive 2015 Home and Garden Festival on Feb. 21-22 will be hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in Wichita County and the Wichita County Master Gardeners Association.
The annual home and garden show will be in the Ray Clymer Exhibit Hall, 1000 5th St. Admission is $7 per person or $5 in advance from local business supporters or Master Gardeners.
Vendor exhibits, seminars and demonstrations are scheduled from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Feb. 21 and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Feb. 22. The program will benefit the Arts Council of Wichita Falls through the Kemp Center for the Arts.
The primary segment of the educational sessions will occur in the auditorium starting at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 21 with the following topics and speakers:
– Healthy Trees, Charlie Carr, Texas Tree Care certified arborist, Wichita Falls.
– Rainfall Alone, Paul Dowlearn, Wichita Valley Nursery, Wichita Falls.
– Rainwater for Life, Billy Kniffen, retired AgriLife Extension state water resource specialist in rainwater harvesting, Menard.
– Peyton’s Project, a non-profit organization for rattlesnake awareness, Tammy Reece, Wichita Falls.
Also, a special educational lineup, known as “Challenge Sessions,” will be held throughout the two-day event. These hour-long sessions will feature a variety of topics in an informal setting, where attendees may interact with speakers, said David Graf, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent for Wichita County.
Challenge Sessions on Feb. 21 will be from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Morning sessions will include: Our Ecology; Backyard Hens, Chicks and Eggs; Farmyard Dairy Goats; Homemade Cheese and Soap; Converting to Native Landscape; Gardening with Rainwater; Gardening with Grandma; Home-Style Canning and More; and Lawn Restoration.
Educational sessions on Feb. 22 begin at 11:30 a.m. and end at 3:45 p.m.
Topics and speakers include:
– Peyton’s Project, Reece.
– Amazing Hummingbirds, Penny Miller, amateur birder, Wichita Falls.
– Spiders and Insects: The Good and the Bad, Dr. Roy Vogtsberger, Midwestern State University associate biology professor, Wichita Falls.
Challenge Sessions on Feb. 22 will run from 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and the topics will be: Texas Quail Index, Feathered Friends, Peyton’s Project, Restoring Your Yard and Converting to Native Landscape.
For more information, contact Graf at 940-716-8610 or [email protected].
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By Tony Dean, [email protected]
If moisture is adequate, there are several winter annual grasses that dominate the landscape during early spring in Texas. One of the most common is Rescuegrass.
This winter annual is native to South America but grows over much of the United States and can be found in all ecoregions of Texas. Rescuegrass is easily recognized by its flat seed head.
Numerous seed heads produce seed that is transported by animals and can quickly spread to other areas.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Norman Winter | Horticulturist, Author, Speaker
The National Garden Bureau has designated 2024 as the ‘Year of the Angelonia’ and I am in full celebration mode. As I was preparing for my contribution to the celebration, I was, however, sent into taxonomic trauma.
For the last 26 years of deep love for the Angelonia, or summer snapdragon, I have told everyone via newspaper, radio and television that they were in the Scrophulariaceae family. Since most gardeners don’t like those words, I modified or simplified the snapdragon family, but somebody has tinkered with green industry happiness and moved Angelonia to the Plantaginaceae or plantain family. I immediately reached out to my friend Dr. Allen Ownings, Horticulture Professor Emeritus with the Louisiana State University AgCenter. I said, “Did you know this, or better yet, did you do it?” He said, as I expected, that the Taxonomist group had done it. This reminded me that someone once said taxonomists have to eat, too.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Jelly Cocanougher
Brazen rumbles cut through the daylight stillness. Enamored by the grandiose symphony of the firmament, tinged in anticipation from where the light will snap next.
The clouds dance in the sky as a love letter to the electrically-charged synergy of the ground and air. It moves unashamed, reckless, and bold. It is raw power that could command attention for any being, a reminder that we are attuned to the primal opus of flora and fauna. The spirit of the prairie was awakened, the hands of a cowboy rests at the heart of it all, a symphony in combination.
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