Outdoor
The Garden Guy: Temple of Bloom, The Most Exciting Small Tree
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.
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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