Nature Along the El Camino Real
Blog of the El Camino Real Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists, Milam County, Texas
by Catherine Johnson
On the first cool day of Autumn, progress continued on the H-E-B Pollinators Across Texas Project at the Milam Wildscape Project.
Many native plants are thriving, including Buttonbush trees, host to Sphinx Moths. Barbados Cherry provides nectar, fruit, and seeds. Goldenrod that was provided by Chapter member Eric is ready to bloom.
We saw pollinators and the new residents.
By Linda Burgess
This past Tuesday, the El Camino Real Master Naturalists and the Little River Basin Master Gardeners came together to contribute to a shared volunteer opportunity. We meet the third Tuesday of each month to package native and adapted wildflower seeds, herb and garden seeds, and some landscaping plant seeds…..all for the Free Seed Library located in the Cameron Public Library.
We are sharing stories, getting to know one another, and providing free seeds to the residents of Milam County. It’s become a great opportunity to learn and grow from each other’s expertise….. and there’s a wealth of knowledge in these two organizations!
By Carolyn Henderson
On Saturday morning I took a side trip to the El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist City Wildscape to find a pleasant surprise in the overgrown mess. Queen butterflies had found the place. I counted about 20 that morning – all on the Gregg’s Mist. That is by far and away the Queens’ favorite nectar producer.
Not only had the Queens landed, American Bumblebees had also located nectar sources for themselves – mainly the Common Sunflower that planted itself in the city wildscape and reproduced many more this year.
I also saw Ligated Furrow Bees and Jagged Ambush Bugs. Those are pending identification verifications in iNaturalist. I also saw Oblique Longorn Bees – a second time for a new to me bee. They are very tiny and in near constant motion. All of these were on the Sunflowers.
Other things we planted were in bloom, but they are mostly overwhelmed by the terrible invasive “Tree of Heaven” and the Persimmons. Persimmons have taken over the right half of the wildscape (if you’re looking at it from the street) and the Tree of Heaven, an invasive from China, has the left side.
I met with the church directors Sunday morning, and they agreed to let us make a last ditch effort to eliminate both of those. Crape Myrtles also are spreading, which are not native to this area either. They have lots of pretty blooms, though. More Queens had arrived.
Alan Rudd has devised a plan to kill these invasives. We believe that we can do it without harming the Pecan tree in the wildscape, but there is no guarantee of that, so we needed approval from the All Saint’s Episcopal Church to do it. They were in agreement, since they also were dealing with the Tree of Heaven in most other parts of their landscape.
Liz Lewis is having the source of the Tree of Heaven, three trees nearby, removed, too. Otherwise, they’ll just come back. No one knows where the Persimmons came from, but we hope we can get them out, too.
Once that is done, the wildscape needs weeding. Good for volunteer hours, everyone.
by Catherine Johnson
It looks like a tornado hit the Wildscape, as work will continue all summer to revamp the garden for minimal maintenance and user-friendly spaces.
New members Bill and Tina tackled overdue chores.
Texas natives to be planted are fall blooming, drought tolerant, and provide seeds or nectar for pollinators.
Come to the Wildscape and visit the pollinators!
by Catherine Johnson
The garden is undergoing major alterations, so hosting programs will be easier and with more room.
Weston and his brother are new helpers who are eliminating massive overgrowth.
Some aggressive natives in the space are Passionflower vine and Climbing Cypress.
Most all plants are doing fine since the rains. However, as it dries out, it is always helpful for members or visitors to pick up a hose and water a plant in stress.
The native trees are tall, including Texas kidneywood, wax myrtle, elbow bush, and button bush.
Seeds are becoming available for the seed library, too. We will have seeds available at the Wildscape very soon.
If you would like to volunteer for chores, email me at cpc69earth@gmail.com. Or, just go see what is going on in June.
Nature Along the El Camino Real 