Outdoor
The Garden Guy
By Norman Winter | Horticulturist, Author, Speaker
If the Supertunia Vista were the diamonds of the petunia world for their toughness and perseverance, then surely the Mini Vistas would be the rubies and sapphires as so demonstrated this year. Mother Nature gave gardeners all the challenges they could handle from the standpoint of heat and drought and I could claim part ownership. If you look at the drought monitor map, however, there is a large area under what appears to be an epic and it is not just the southeast.
The Supertunias seemed up to the task from the get-go. Young’s Plant Farm gave an update on their trials throughout the summer on social media and at the end of July they took our breath away with photos of Supertunia Mini Vista hanging baskets. I kid you not, the photos made them appear almost as large as Volkswagen Beetles. I took photos in June at their Annual Garden Tour and they were huge then ,but the late July pictures almost defied logic.
To read more, pick up a copy of the January 2024 issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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Varietal Honey
By: Landon Moore
Landon Moore is the Wise County 4-H President and a member of the Wise County 4-H County Council. He is involved in beekeeping, as well as raising rabbits and poultry.
This essay was one that he wrote, and it was named the champion for both the Texas and National chapters of the Foundation For The Preservation of Honey Bees.
Varietal honey is honey that comes from a single source.
This honey has a flavor derived from the source flower and can even have a similar scent. In general, lighter colored honeys have a more subtle taste and dark honeys are more intense. Varietal honey has been compared to wine, in that honeys produced in different years can be distinguished, even if they come from the same flower and location.
This phenomenon is called terroir and is responsible for the individual taste of each honey harvest.
To read more, pick up a copy of the October edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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The Garden Guy: America’s Sweetheart
By: Norman Winter | Horticulturist, Author, Speaker
Early in the summer, I was sent a press release that caused one of those holy wow moments. The headline said it all, “Proven Winners ColorChoice Expands Catalog with the Addition of Hollywood Hibiscus.”
I had already become familiar with the Hollywood Hibiscus series and was thrilled that the Proven Winners was adding this to their lineup.
This flower is nothing short of beautiful and exhibits prolific flower production. The flowers show three distinct colors, deep red in the very center, then the majority which is a rich rose pink with lighter pink to white along the margins.
To read more, pick up a copy of the October edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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Lights Out Texas!
By: Hannah Claxton | Editor
One-third of all birds in the U.S. migrate each fall, with more than two million traveling across Texas.
The majority of birds migrate at night, so the Lights Out Texas campaign was orchestrated to encourage Texans to turn off non-essential lights and ensure the safety of the birds.
In 2017, on Galveston Island, a collision involving more than 400 birds, across 20 different species, spurred the Houston Audubon to join forces with American National and create the initiative.
To read more about the initiative and how you can help the birds this fall, pick up a copy of the October edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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