Outdoor
Grazing North Texas
By Tony Dean, [email protected]
Bumelia is one of our more important wildlife browsing plants. It is native to much of the Southern United States, including most of Texas except the extreme north and western parts of the state. It also goes by a long list of other common names, including Chittamwood, Gum-elastic, Wooly-bucket bumelia, Gum bumelia, Wolly buckthorn, and others.
Bumelia is a perennial root-sprouting shrub usually growing 12 to 18 feet tall. It often retains its leaves for extended periods and is thus considered a semi-evergreen. Crude protein for new leaves can reach 20 percent to 25 percent in spring and mature leaves in the fall can be at 14 percent.
Cattle will browse on the shrub at times, but sheep, goats and deer are usually heavy users. Quail, turkey and dove eat the ripe fruit. White Winged dove will sit in the shrub and eat the fruit before it falls to the ground. Unless it becomes too dominant, Bumelia is a good plant to have on the ranch due to its obvious high value as a browse plant.
To read more, pick up a copy of the October issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Norman Winter | Horticulturist, Author, Speaker
National Poinsettia Day is fast approaching, Dec. 12 to be exact. While I am sure the powers at be wanted a celebratory type of day, from what I have been seeing this year is this may be a deadline day. Have your poinsettias by Dec. 12 or you may not get any.
This most likely applies to poinsettia partners as well. If you are asking what a poinsettia partner is then put on your thinking cap and gather around.
Proven Winners got most of us to thinking partners when they introduced the concept of combining poinsettias with Diamond Frost euphorbias. This is one of the best ideas ever and we now actually have three choices, Diamond Frost, Diamond Snow with double flowers and Diamond Mountain that is the taller of the three.
To read more, pick up a copy of the December issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Jelly Cocanougher
How could an animal that lives on the side of the mountain look like he knows the answers to all of life’s most pressing questions? The infinite wisdom of the elusive mountain goat sparks extreme interest. Branches broken and wrapped with hair from an itchy mountain goat, his home shows the best views of Montana. All while welcoming passerbys with a humanized smile.
By Norman Winter | Horticulturist, Author, Speaker
Since fall is the best time to plant trees and shrubs, I want to give a shout out to The Temple of Bloom, seven-son flower. This small tree is like the proverbial ‘tree of life.’
Every pollinator in the neighborhood will find it and hang out as well as those creatures that hunt pollinators. It is like a miniature version of the Serengeti. It has been hard for The Garden Guy to take the camera and binoculars and go indoors for fear of missing some action-packed moments.
It is known botanically as Heptacodium miconioides and you will find it in the Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family. Fear not, remember it is not the least bit invasive and keep in mind it is a shrub or small tree. One of the unique aspects of the Heptacodium genus is there are no other species, just the miconioides.
The thousands of white blossoms produced in late summer do impart a tantalizing fragrance. A rare horticultural event takes place once the petals fall.
The Missouri Botanical Garden describes it like this: “Flowers are followed in the fall by an equally showy (if not showier) display: small purplish-red fruits crowned by very showy rose-pink calyces which elongate after bloom and last into fall.” The fall display looks much more red than pink to me, but perhaps it’s determined by climatic conditions.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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