Educational Material – Page 22 – Nature Along the El Camino Real

Field Trip Fun at Mother Neff State Park

April 17, 2023April 17, 2023 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

By Sue Ann Kendall

Saturday was an absolutely glorious day for a field trip and guided walk through Mother Neff State Park. It’s the closest state park to Milam County, so it wasn’t a bad drive at all for the carpoolers and separate drivers. Plus, we got to see lots and lots of wildflowers along the way!

We were very impressed with the new park headquarters that was built after the original one was flooded badly (some of the park is still inaccessible). There are very impressive native plantings all around it.

Once we were all gathered and checked in, the group motored over to the trail head and enjoyed a walk through wooded areas, led by a knowledgeable park intern who’s majoring in leisure or something like that.

The hike took us to a cave, a cool picnic table in the middle of nowhere built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a large cave that was used for years by indigenous residents, and a CCC tower that would give great views if the trees hadn’t grown up to block most of it. There was a lot of going up and down involved, so the hike was better for folks with good legs.

Two of our members were not very good participants in the hike, however. Linda Jo Conn and I were too enthralled by all the interesting plants and insects we saw that we could share on iNaturalist. This park is part of the Texas Master Naturalist GTWT Adopt-a-Loop trail project, so we wanted to add observations to that. Also, well, we are just that way. As Linda Jo states, we proceed at the pace of botany.

We found some very interesting plants and were impressed by the variety we saw. I wish we’d been there when the yellow passionflower was blooming. But I was impressed that I remembered what the leaves looked like and found it. We had a blast!

Everyone was pretty tired after we got back, but since I was driving, I forced my passengers to wait while we parked in the trail head for the walk through the meadow that my husband and I had walked last December.

I wanted to see things that weren’t woodland plants, like Lindheimer paintbrush

We didn’t want to make them sit forever, so Linda Jo and I didn’t walk on the actual trail. We got all distracted by a sunny area surrounded by Ashe junipers. It looked like dismal scrub. But NO! It was filled with interesting and rare plants!

And pretty plants, like cobaea beard tongue

I was particularly excited to find a star milk vine. What beautiful, tiny flowers it has. The one Linda Jo was most excited about was a golden-eyed phlox, which is endemic to Texas. The other chapter members said they could hear us whooping when we found yet another interesting plant in the “bare” area.

We ended the expedition with a nice lunch on Lake Belton. We’re very lucky to have such a fun group to do our activities with and the perfect day to do it.

PS: Sorry for the lack of Latin names for plants. I had to hurry to finish this. Then a squirrel blew out our electricity and my Internet router.

Pink Turk’s Cap Experiment Update

March 27, 2023 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Carolyn Henderson

Success with growing Pink Turk’s Caps from seed is looking more possible every day. I now have seven growing from seeds that wintered in the refrigerator. Then I was surprised to find that the one whole seed pod I planted in the ground last November had come up. I had flagged the site, so I could remember exactly where I put it.

So, they will come up from a baby plant planted in the fall, seeds that have been removed from the red pod covering, cleaned, dried, and refrigerated over the winter, and a whole pod placed in a flower bed in the fall. The only version that didn’t produce plants were the cleaned and dried seeds planted in the fall in containers and left outside.

Now, I’m waiting to get them a little larger, so I can transplant them to the mostly shaded flower bed.

Training Class Studies Bee Farming

March 26, 2023 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Kathy Lester

The El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist training class met at Walker Honey Farm, where owner Clint Walker discussed all the wonderful things about bees. Attendees were able to handle the hive frames, see the queen bees, and observe at least three different colors of pollen carried by the bees. They were dressed appropriately for visiting hives.

Bee handler Blake explained the manufacturing process.

Then they had some great “retail therapy” at the Walker Honey Farm store.

Cucumbers, Dill, and Surprise Butterflies

March 24, 2023March 23, 2023 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Dorothy Mayer

Last year I had quite a few Eastern Black Swallowtails eating most of my dill. I was okay with that, as almost all of my cucumbers were too bitter to can. The weather got too hot too fast for my cucumbers. So, I was disappointed not to be able to can any pickles last year.

The dill was fine, though, and the beautiful butterflies loved it and laid lots of eggs underneath the leaves. When the caterpillars got big enough, I put them in my butterfly house along with a bunch of dill and watched until they all got into a chrysalis. A few did come out & looked healthy. They flew good so I assumed they were healthy.

However, I had three chrysalis that didn’t look right but, I just left them alone. I figured after numerous freezes that they were all dead in there. (I had my butterfly incubator on the back porch where it’s not heated nor cooled.)

Nope. One by one those butterflies managed to come out, and we got to watch them fly away, which was just super fun and amazing. I plan to plant a ton of extra dill this year and try that again. I think it’s a great activity for a learning experience for children and adults alike.

So please, don’t put chemicals on your plants, because you will kill “good bugs” with the “bad bugs.” Poison doesn’t discriminate. It kills ALL bugs and possibly birds, too, as birds eat the insects and feed them to their babies.

Happy Spring Everyone.

ECRTMN Wildscape Spreads Its Seeds Way Beyond Boundaries

March 10, 2023 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall1 Comment

(to my house)

by Carolyn Henderson

A Turks Cap with pink flowers was planted at the El Camino Real Master Naturalist
Wildscape last year. Due to its prolific growth, which was over six feet tall and wide, and it
being covered in many pink flowers, it was the wonder of the season, including with me.

I was determined to grow some myself! Catherine Johnson, site manager, felt
compelled to give me a “baby” plant that had sprouted up under the big plant just in
case my attempt to grow some from seeds didn’t pan out. I should point out that a few
“baby plants” of another species had not made it at my house.

One of the reasons I really liked this plant was that it likes shade. It can grow large even
if it’s in the shade most of the day. My front yard was covered in shade all day long due
to some very tall and old Live Oaks that run across my front yard. Notice I said “was.” It
is not quite as covered now. The freeze/ice of 2021 and freeze/lots of ice of 2023 has
severely pruned those trees to the point of blue sky now being visible when one looks
up.

I have planted a few other things from the Wildscape that are alleged to be shade
tolerant, and they are to a degree, but they are stunted in growth by too much shade. A
Flame Acanthus reached about 12 inches tall and finally put on two blooms last year.
This pink-flowered Turks Cap was in shade for a good part of the day, and it grew like
crazy. It did get chicken poop fertilizer, so that probably helped.

So, I took about 10 of the small, red apple-looking seed pods late last fall. I did some
research on how to grow them from seeds and proceeded to try all versions. There
were basically three different methods suggested by different people.
First, it was suggested to stick the whole seed pod in the ground. I did two in that
manner. I put one in the ground and one in a small potting container. Neither has come
up yet.

Second, it was suggested to open the seed pods, remove the seeds and clean them of
any of the pod then dry them in the sun. After the drying, it was suggested to pot them
in very small containers and put them in the sun. I did eight in this manner. I started
them inside in a window that doesn’t get much sun. The weather was staying pretty
moderate, so I moved them outside. I watered them periodically, and left them out
during the freeze. Nothing has sprouted yet.

Third, follow the cleaning advice in the second version, then put them in an airtight bag
in the refrigerator for the duration of winter. I used a zip lock bag. Plant them in late
February or early March. Two weeks ago, I purchased a container made for starting
seeds that would fit on my kitchen window – the only window that is accessible and gets
several hours of sun in my house. I took some dirt from the empty flower bed where I
intend to plant them if they grow and planted them. I dropped several seeds into each
section of the container. I had seeds left, too. This window is in my kitchen, so I’m
paying close attention to them.

My first positive sign of growth was the “baby plant” that I put in a large flowerpot last
year. It is back! I should note that it is in a sunnier area.

My eureka moment came on Tuesday this week! One of the refrigerator seeds has
sprouted. I excitedly yelled “Yea!”, which caused my son to come into the room to see
what was wrong with me. He reminded me that I had not invented something new. But I
had grown it from a refrigerated seed.

I’m hoping it really will like all the tree shade in my front yard.