Little River Master Gardeners gathered at the El Camino Real Master Naturalist Wildscape last Wednesday to learn about native plant gardening. The Master Naturalists have a wildscape out on FM 334 to learn, teach, and share with each other about keeping it native.
Worker bees getting ready for presentation to the Little River Master Gardeners
Connie Anderle, a member of both chapters, introduced everyone then turned it over to Catherine Johnson, manager of the wildscape for ECRMN, to explain the layout and where the plants come from to be planted. Linda Jo Conn then talked to the group about why growing native plants is better for everyone and all native species of insects, birds and animals. Jackie Thornton spoke about the beauty of native species and read excerpts from a children’s book titled A Prairie Garden. Gene and Cindy Rek also spoke about their contribution, which is a lot, to the project.
Jackie Thornton reads pocket garden book to the group
Ann Collins made refreshments for the attendees and Ellen Luckey helped serve. There was a great deal of debate over which of Ann’s multiple types of cookies was the best.
Ann Collins and Ellen Luckey serving refreshments
After the speeches, all the guests toured the wildscape with members guiding and explaining what each section is about. There were 32 Master Gardeners in attendance.
Entrane to the wildscapeA few of the many Gulf Fritillaries flying all over the placeCindy Rek shares her very large dirt dbauber nest made on top of a cleaning agent can.Linda Jo Conn explains why native is better
Several members and some spouse helpers planted three Bur Oaks in April on Earth Day, and they are still alive – so far. They are planted at Cameron City Park, Orchard Park and Wilson Ledbetter Park. I see the Orchard Park tree on a daily basis. I see the Cameron City Park tree about every two weeks. The last one not so often.
Cameron City Park tree with no leaves
They all took a serious wind storm hit about a week (or so) after they were planted. It caused two of them to lean notably, but a little action was taken to try and set them upright. The Wilson Ledbetter Park tree was nearly on the ground. They did seem to recover from that event. Then came the heat. About three weeks ago, I drove by the city park to take a look at it and found it leafless. The leaves had died on the tree and fallen around it. This was a surprise because it seemed to be doing very well. It didn’t even lean over in the storm. I got out of my car to take a closer look. It appeared like it was going to bud out again. A week later it had new leaves. I don’t know what made the leaves die, but the theory is transplant shock.
Same tree with what I thought were going to be new leavesOne week later, it is putting out new leavesSame tree with many more leaves
The Orchard Park tree has looked very good until just this week. It is losing some leaves. On close inspection, it looks like some of them are being eaten by something. There are still mostly green leaves on it. The Wilson Ledbetter tree is the one that was laid over from that storm. It still leans a lot, but it is putting up new leaves from the ground. I’m not sure what to do about the still leaning part. The tilt is about a 45 degree angle.
What they all need right now is regular watering. If you volunteered, please don’t forget to take them a drink as often as you can. Wilson Ledbetter Park has a working faucet right by the American Legion, or you can dip it from the little lake. The Orchard Park tree is right beside the pond, so it can be dipped from there. The Cameron City Park requires transporting the water. If they have made it this far, I think some regular watering can get them through to cooler, wetter weather.
Wilson Ledbetter Park TreeClose up of Wilson Ledbetter tree new growthClose up of leaves at Orchard Park
Every inch of the Wildscape was explored recently at a Mason Bee program for Milam Home School Co-op. Forty-one people attended, which included twenty-six children and seven Master Naturalists. After the bee houses were assembled, everyone took off to all parts of the garden observing butterflies, hummingbirds, and spiders. The children enjoyed refreshments, hide and seek, and receiving goody bags and nature books.
The parents were interested in building their own Wildscapes and want to return for free native plants. We enjoyed ages from baby to teens and hope to spend more time with them at the Wildscape.
The El Camino Real chapter planted native trees in three Cameron parks on Earth Day, then removed some invasive species that they “girdled” last year. Twelve members and a couple of family volunteers planted Bur Oaks in Cameron City Park, Orchard Park, and Wilson-Ledbetter Park to promote native species to help the natural eco-system locally.
The tree-planting gang at Cameron City Park
Quite a few trees were lost in and around Cameron during the ice storm this year, so the chapter is making an effort to replace them. Any type of native oak tree is considered the most beneficial to the local eco-system. Native trees are more acclimated to the heat and drought conditions that are occurring fairly often.
Planting in Orchard Park
In addition to planting the trees, the members removed the three Glossy Privets at Wilson-Ledbetter Park that had been girdled over a year ago. Girdling is a method to remove trees without herbicides to avoid harming other trees. Alan Rudd brought his chain saw and a trailer. He cut them down and the members and volunteers loaded all the branches on the trailer. They were removed and burned to prevent resprouting elsewhere.
Pondering a privet at Wilson-Ledbetter Park
Alan also planted an Eastern Redbud in the trunk of an old dead tree at Cameron City Park in an experiment to see if it will grow there and add some color to the park. Members have volunteered to keep all the trees watered on a weekly basis through the summer and early fall. We planted the trees in the manner recommended by our recent speaker from the A & M Forest Service.
Planting the redbud
We plan to add more trees to Wilson-Ledbetter in the fall.
The Rockdale Rotary Club was treated to an excellent presentation on Thursday, April 20 in celebration of the upcoming Earth Day.
The science lesson started off with Keegan Nichols, a PhD candidate in the Entomology Dept at Texas A&M University. Mr. Nichols works and teaches at the Rangel Bee Lab on the A&M campus and his dissertation research concerns the ecology and genetics of honeybees in Saudi Arabia. Keegan presented the big picture of just how many native bee species there are in Texas and how European honeybees have integrated into the North American insect world since they were brought over by colonists in the 1600’s. I am not even going to try to convey the depth of knowledge that this future professor displayed in a 20-minute slot, but our Chapter President astutely asked him to come to Cameron and teach for the entire El Camino Real crew in the near future.
Keegan Nichols, from Texas &M, talks about bees
Carolyn Henderson took over the show where Mr. Nichols left off and utilized a question-and-answer format that queried the audience with “did you know this about bees?” She started off with easy questions then (as a former Jr High teacher is wont to do) moved onto the harder trivia to make us think. The group ended off this segment considering the factoid that “garlic planted in a garden repels bees.” Surely not even Italian bees?
El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalists and attendees
Donna Lewis was the next El Camino Real Master Naturalist to take the stage and presented a Master Gardener’s view of how to garden for the benefit of pollinators. The photos and information slides flowed seamlessly the entire day as Michele Lopez ran the PowerPoint for Donna and Keegan Nichols. Donna’s well-polished speaking skills and screen graphics showed the use of native plants in a yard environment and how we can create an oasis for insects and birds.
Donna Lewis discusses her information
Batting clean-up for the El Camino Real Team was switch-hitter Jackie Thornton. She presented “show and tell” items for bee watering stations and masonry bee nesting habitats that can be made by hand. I never fail to be impressed with every one of our ECRMN members that have worked as professional educators. Jackie was in full “Principal Mode,” demonstrating these things to get young people involved and excited about science and the natural world. She also showed her love of education by encouraging the adults in the audience to read several authors whose books she had on display.
Attendees enjoy the door prizes
I got to attend this event because work was delayed due to rain, but Catherine Johnson, Sandy Dworaczyk, and Don Travis also showed up to support the speakers and represent our chapter. The Rockdale Rotary Club was welcoming and the hospitality at the Patterson Community Center is representative of what makes Milam County such a special place. The Bird and Bee farm donated jars of Honey that were the prime door prizes, and with their usual good luck Catherine and Sandy won flowers and artwork in the drawing.
Nature Along the El Camino Real 