This is a continuation of parts 6-5-4-3-2-1To
To go to the Native Plants in Pictures Directory click on this link http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/528122/
To go to part 6 click on this link http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/523112/
To go to part 5 click on this link http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/518448/
To go to part 4 click on this link http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/511726/
To go to part 3 click on this link http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/498342/
To go to part 2 click on this link http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/491824/
To go to part 1 click on this link http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/486105/
Hello Everyone,
The people on this thread are interested in discussion, seed and plant trading, and learning in general about native plants and wildflowers.
We are dedicated to plant conservation and love to demomstrate what can be done with the native plants that have been ignored by the nurseries in favor of the exotics. Many of the plants in our yards are native and we are always looking to improve. We are sure there are others out there doing the same thing and loving it as much as we do. Please let us talk about what you are doing and what you have accomplished.
We hope to hear from all you dedicated gardeners. Let us have some fun.
Sincerely, Josephine.
This message was edited Jul 27, 2005 3:34 PM
Gardening with Texas Native plants & Wildflowers. Part 7
We went to visit Linda ( Sugarfoot ) on the 4th, and to see all the improvements they have made to their place. They have been working very hard.
They built a pond with a bridge, here it is.
People on the bridge.
Sugarfoot and me by the pond.
Looking at the slope from the pond.
The Texas Bluebells ( Eustoma grandiflorum ) by the pond.
wow - think with all those asters on the slope in bloom! Does anyone know a Nicotiana native to Texas for the native area???
Nope, but got alot of native asters growing...even got a climbing aster (ok--not native to Texas but native to the Carolinas--LOL). Can't wait to see them this fall...when it's cool...it will eventually cool off right? LOL
Welcome to the tread, Dmj1218.
Yes, it will cool off, and then we will probably wish that it was warm again, so we can continue growing things.
I love the asters too and am looking forward to seeing them bloom.
Josephine.
Josephine, I was given some garden phlox at the Central TX RU in April. They are two long stems, topped off with the flower heads. They've been in bloom for probably several weeks now, and the heat and now a little rain from yesterday has the flowers looking a little tattered. Are you supposed to dead-head phlox? I've never seen any phlox that "branches out", it seems to always be these long single stems, topped with the flower.
As far as weather is concerned, I was just thinking today that after bombs in London and the hurricane bearing down on our FL/AL/GA friends, I really have much to be thankful for! I'm determined not to complain... for at least a week.
You are so right Mary, I guess all in all we are pretty lucky.
The way you describe is how Phlox normally grows. It will have a very full flower head, and then some of the individual flowers will die, but if you just remove the dead flowers, without cutting the flower head, just gently pull the dead flowers off, it will make more buds and rebloom, may be not as full as before, but quite nice.
My Phlox usually reblooms twice,so it lasts about 2 months in bloom.
After that , you can cut it back to about 18 inches from the ground and sometimes it will make new bloom clusters. What color is yours?
Thanks frostweed. We really do have alot to be thankful for! Is anyone other than me starting to get excited about fall gardening and the hummer migration etc.? I think gardening in the fall in Texas is almost as close to heaven as you can get!
Debbie
Linda, I LOVE the bridge and the pond! How wonderful! Is that all of your area to garden?! Someday.... :)
Mitch, I looked in my books and there is a Nicotiana that is native.
Tobacco Tree, (Nicotiana glauca) this tree grows up to 20 feet tall and is perennial.
It grows by the Rio Grande river and Big Bend National Park.
I don't know where you could find it but it sure is interesting.
I don't know if you guys have noticed, but I started a new thread just for
Native Plants and Wildflowers Pictures.
You can post all your pictures of native plants, even if you have posted them on this thread before, not just the new ones, so we can have a beautiful collection that we can refer to a lot quicker, since we have a lot of other information here.
I hope it will turn out to be a wonderful tool for all of us.
Josephine
Josephine, my phlox is "Victoia pink", but I noticed that when it's really hot it gets a little more lavender/purple. Thanks for the info on phlox.
Yes, I did notice the picture thread, great idea! I'll post some pictures on it soon.
Debbie, absolutely I'm looking forward to fall! I remember reading/hearing in several places that fall is actually the best season in Houston.
Just love the smell of it - now to find some and hope it makes it up here (I will share) - Mitch
Josephine, I have one Tree Tobacco, Nicotiana glauca, down by the river. It's in shade most of the day so it's very scraggly. It's toxic to cattle, sheep and horses, but it's located in a steep embankment so our cattle can't get to it. I've seen it in bloom but can't say I've noticed the seed.
Veronica
Hello Veronica, thank you for telling us about the Tree Tobacco, may be it will develop some seeds later.
How are you getting by with all this heat? It seems that everyone is taking a long siesta lately trying to stay cool.
Are you planning to come to the plant sawp on September 25th?
I hope you can come, I am trying to root a lot of plants to have for giveaway.
It would be very nice to see you.
Josephine.
The only way to stay cool is to stay indoors as much as possible, but I have a large number of potted plants that I need to water. I go out in the morning when it isn't too hot and water. I spend part of the day hoping for rain. We finally got almost 2 inches Thursday, but it came down so hard some of it ran off.
The calf I'm hand feeding will be 2 months old by September 25th so maybe we can go for the day if I can get a calf sitter.
Veronica
Veronica, I hope you can find the sitter for your calf, is the mom not able to feed her?
Isin't it amazing? We take on animals and it is almost like having children, they do limit what we can do, but there are many rewards also, I seems that life is most meaningful when are able to give of ourselves, so carry on with your labor of love.
Josephine.
Three of the 4 ducts in the cow's udder were plugged with some fibrous material. The calf would have starved to death. I've hand fed two Angus calves, but this one is going to be a challenge. Our neighbor's Charolais bull is the calf's sire. She is larger and more aggressive than the other calves I've raised.
I've spent all of 2005 caring for Winston, one of our cats. He'll be on medication for at least 3 more months, but the hard part is over. The commitment with the new calf is for 5 - 6 months. We're keeping all our heifers so I will get to see my handiwork for a long time, I hope.
Veronica, it sure looks like you work very hard at your ranch, but I bet it is very satifying.
I hope Winston will get well soon.
Josephine.
Now that hubby is back to work, and I'm getting things done at the homefront... I should get a few shots up here from our visit with Trois! He was so good to show us around a quick tour of his place.... 1) ... promised the kids just a "quick stop" on the way to the cruise... 2) I melt when it gets over 90 degrees. Therefore, it was a Quick tour, but a lovely visit. Thank you so much Trois, for the hospitality!
ps... I was SO proud, that even though my daughters stayed behind to sit in the pergola, they did venture out and take several pictures of their own! We just MIGHT be inspiring little gardeners yet....!
Here is one of the 4 of us!
Here is one that I forget the name of ... and wasn't this out by the "big pond"? Trois....?
Thanks for the picture posting.
The flower is a Mexican Willow Primrose, by the lily pond. It is covered with blooms now.
We enjoyed your visit. Sorry for the heat. It has been cooler the last several days.
trois
This message was edited Jul 14, 2005 10:26 AM
Mel! what a wonderful picture of all of you, and isin't this a wonderful group?
I feel like we have known each other for a long time, the bonds of friendship that we are forming are truly precious, and I feel very priviledged to be a part of it.
Josephine.
Hello Everyone, as you probably know already, we have started a new way to keep track of our native plant pictures, because when we post them on this thread, they eventually get pushed very far back, and they are hard to find and refer to. Also the plants on the plant files are not classified as native, so you can't look then up that way either.
So we came up with the idea of a Texas Native Plants and Wildflowers Picture Directory.
On this thread we explain what we are trying to accomplish, including links to native plant I.D. sites in case you need to verify whether a plant is native or not, before posting it.
Also on this thread, are all the links to the various plant pictures by color, such as;
Texas Native Plant Pictures by color ( Blue ) and all the other colors.
You don't have to go to the directory first, if you know what you need to do, but sometimes a thread of a certain color will have moved off the front page, and going to the directory and clicking on that color's link will simplify finding it.
Of course that means that the directory needs to stay on the front page at all times. I have requested Dave to make it a (Sticky ) so we can allways find our picture threads easily.
He hasn't said yes, yet, but we are really hoping he will.
So please , go to the Directory, read the instructions and post to your heart's content, we already have some members posting, and it looks great.
Needless to say, please don't abandon this thread, here we can discus many things that are not pertinent there ,and continue with the sharing of experience and opinions, and just have plain fun. Josephine.
Dear Friends, the question has come up as to whether we should post in the picture threads plants that are ( Cultivars ) of ntives, and plants that were introduced and are now ( Adapted ) and grow wild by themselves.
As I understand it , a( cultivar ) is a variation of the original native plant, that has been brought about through human intervention, such as selective propagation of a cetain plant, that shows the desired traits, or through cross polination.
An ( Adapted ) plant is one that was not native to the region, but was introduced by wind, water, animals, or humans, and has become estsblished in the region and now grows wild along with the other native plants.
We can choose to post these, as long as we specify whether they are
( Cultivars ) or ( Adapted ) so that there is no confusion, or misinformation
Of course that means that you will have to do a little more research, but learning a little more never hurt anybody.
So what do you think? It has been suggested that we take a vote on this matter, so that we together can decide what we want, and no one be left out of the decision making.
We could do something like this;
Allow (Cultivars ) Yes or No
Allow( Adapted ) Yes or No
Please post your opinion on this thread and let us get it decided, that way whatever we come up with it will be what the majority wants and no one will feel left out.
Sincerely, Josephine.
This message was edited Jul 14, 2005 3:49 PM
Allow (Cultivars ) Yes, only if noted in the thread.
Allow( Adapted ) Yes, only if noted in the thread.
Allow cultivars - yes, if noted in thread.
Allow adapted - no.
Allow cultivars - No
Allow adapted - Yes
Yes to both - if they are noted on the thread
Yes to both , if noted.
Yes to both if noted
In the words of Her Majesty Queen Hazel,
Allow (Cultivars ) Yes, only if noted in the thread.
Allow( Adapted ) Yes, only if noted in the thread.
Yes to both, if noted. When I got the email from Josephine, I thought we might have some rousing but friendly discussion on this topic. Personally, I tend to be a purist about many things, but not when it limits the number of flowers I can potentially plant in my garden. And perhaps anything that grows wild now would have eventually made it's way here - even things from foreign shores. I did a little digging into the history of cattle egrets recently because I didn't remember them being here when I was a child. It seems that they were blown to South America in the late 1800's and spread throughout South and North America in the next 100 years. Could plant seeds do the same? Sorry for rambling, but it's an interesting topic to me.
That is of course an extremely difficult question - at what point does something become 'native' to an area. Evolution means that things have adapted and adjusted over centuries, indeed millenia. The things we regard as native may not be if you go back far enough. (In fighting all invasives we are in fact attempting to fight evolution!!)
I really don't have any strong feelings but cultivars are really the same plant just bred selectively to enhance its desirable characteristics.
They surely could Linda, that is why we have adapted wild flowers which came to us in many different ways. Josephine.
I think including both would be fine...for instance turk's cap I think has many adapted cultivars (I could be wrong here--this example just "poppes" into my mind). I would imagine white texas star is the same way. It might be useful for newer gardeners to know that the adapted plants are easy for them to grow. I'm sure if someone makes an error in posting we can all research together and get it corrected without "ruffling" feathers! I agree, research is fun.