Outdoor
Milkweed Feasting More than You Realize
By Norman Winter, Horticulturist, Author and Speaker
North Texas Farm and
Ranch owners most likely
are aware that milkweeds
are the lifeblood of Monarch
butterflies and their cousins the Queen and Soldier are mostly found in central and south Texas.
They are not just important as a larval food source but also as a vital nectar source to other pollinators including hummingbirds.
We love milkweeds because they are extraordinarily beautiful and intricate in their design, making them great plants for the landscape or the backyard wildlife habitat, but if you stop and pay attention, however, you’ll notice milkweeds are like the “pollinator luncheon junction” for an assortment of butterflies. Right now in the hill country of Texas not too far from San Marcos, Wimberley and Dripping Springs, you’ll find the Antelope Horn milkweeds (Asclepias asperula) blooming everywhere.
To read more pick up a copy of the May 2019 NTFR issue. To subscribe 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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