Category: Nature Observations

Donna’s Garden in October

Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Donna Lewis

Can you believe it’s October!   A crazy year for sure.

I have not done very much to the garden the last few weeks. I like to let  her go to sleep slowly for the winter months.

My back also needs the rest. Any gardener will know what I mean.

Salvia

The fall loves salvia. It is everywhere in the garden. 

Salvia up close
Two colors of salvia

The last butterflies are fighting over the best nectar spots, and chasing the hummers out of the garden. It’s every man or woman for themselves.

Then the flame acanthus are on fire with blossoms .The orange Celeste tree is also blooming now.

Cowpen daisies are proliferating as usual, and autumn sage is putting out its last blast of flowers.

Then there is the lovely and dainty coral vine. Bees and butterflies alike love her sweet pink blooms.

I’d say pretty nice for a little stroll through the garden.

The secret garden…

Dead Trees Are Very Valuable for Our Wildlife

Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Donna Lewis

Trees that have died  and are still standing (snags), and trees that have fallen provide many homes and food for wildlife. Here are some examples.

  • Excavated cavities provide homes for woodpeckers.
  • When they leave a cavity, secondary nesters move in. These include chickadees, titmice, wrens, and bluebirds. 
  • The hollow part of limbs also house owls, raccoons, squirrels, and some bats.
  • Many invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals live in or on fallen trees. 
  • Fireflies use decaying logs to complete their life cycle. 
  • The hollow trunks provide homes for skunks, foxes, mice, and weasels, to name a few.

That’s a ton of uses as a tree finishes its life. It helps coming and going….as a fallen tree decomposes it provides nutrients back to the forest floor.

So, you might think twice before cutting a grand old tree that has died down. Of course there are times when you have to remove one, like being too close to a structure or fence. But if it’s a safe distance, then save it for our wildlife.

Everything has a purpose. Hug a tree today.

A Prairie Project Report

Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Eric Neubauer

In 2018, wheat was planted here at my property, where there was once blackland prairie. Since then, nature has taken over. A mix of native and non-native grasses and forbs quickly came up by themselves. Each year the mix changed, but by 2021 it was obvious Johnson Grass was a huge threat and would eventually outcompete and overwhelm everything else. I was reluctant to use herbicides, because they might affect the plants and animals that I wanted to keep. For example, it’s unlikely anyone tested the effect on wolf spiders. So, I was left with only mechanical means of control.

I decided to focus only on the Johnson Grass to keep it simple. I came up with several plans depending on how thick the Johnson Grass was and whether an area would be mowed. One image shows an area where I pulled the Johnson Grass and ragweed starting early in the year. It looks pretty nice now and only a few unwanted seedlings have come up since. I’ll mow this area in early spring before the bluestem comes up and after it goes to seed. You can see some Johnson Grass I haven’t gotten to lurking in the background on the right.

The other image shows where the mowed area meets the unmown area. Johnson Grass doesn’t like regular mowing. There are numerous small plants in the foreground, but these have limited root systems and will die or are easy to pull. King Ranch Bluestem tolerates regular mowing. I mowed around the plant in the foreground and now it’s going to seed. I mowed around other plants, primarily legumes, and hand pulled any Johnson Grass that didn’t get cut. In the background is a mass of Johnson Grass. I’m hand pulling this. You can see little of anything is left except leaf litter where I have pulled it to the right. Some will  regrows, and I’ll have pull it again, but subsequent pulling goes much quicker than the first. In the meantime, other plants, such as asters, now have enough light to spout and grow. By the way, if you hand pull Johnson Grass, wear good gloves. Otherwise it can give you a nasty cut if your hand slips.

Other areas I’ve promoted with selective weeding are stands of goldenrod and a large patch of frogfruit where water collects sometimes.

It’s possible another threat will rise out of the several species of non-native grasses present, but for now I have a plan.

It’s Ragweed Season

Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall2 Comments

by Donna Lewis

Got a headache, coughing and sneezing?

If you have some or all of these you probably have Giant Ragweed ( Ambrosia trifida). I certainly don’t think it’s ambrosia…it’s awful! I don’t see how you could  make rags out of it. Where do these names come from?

Ragweed

So are they good for anything?  As it turns out, I looked in my reference book, Medicinal Plants by Peterson and found out that the native Americans did use it for certain ailments. They used it as an astringent, to stop bleeding, dysentery, and insect bites to name a few. Today it is commercially harvested for the treatment of ragweed allergies.

It’s everywhere!

So, yes it has a few saving characteristics.

The flowers are pretty, though.

Also out in the pastures right now is a very valuable plant that our migrating monarchs use.  It is in the Sunflower family: goldenrod. 

Goldenrod

The native Americans used this for many medical issues: roots for burns, flower tea for fevers and snakebites, crushed flowers for sore throats, and some other ailments.

Both these plants can cause severe allergic reactions, so don’t try any for medical ailments unless you have asked your doctor first.

Always something interesting to learn out there.

Visiting Cameron City Parks

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by Catherine Johnson

Our Let’s Get Outside project took us to Cameron City Park, 12 Street Park, Cameron and Airport Park, and O. J. Thomas Park. 

At Cameron City Park we saw natives, mushrooms , and former swimming pool.

12 St. Park has beautiful trees and a nice pond. 

Cameron Park has a fun pool and Airport Park great baseball fields.

O. J.  Thomas Park has swings and basketball hoops.  All were very well maintained and offer quiet, pretty places for recreation, walking, picnics, or observing nature. 

Bitterweed photo by Nick Moore on iNaturalist. Used with permission.

I focused on three small yellow wildflowers in order to learn to distinguish them–Bitterweed, Camphor weed, and Straggler Daisy.  The leaves are very different.

Bitterweed, camphor weed, and straggler daisy (left to right)

You will be amazed at how much you will know in a few years if you learn in small steps. Attending these latest walks were Linda Jo, Donna, Scott, Debra, Jackie T. , Connie, Pamela and Ruby, Kim and Catherine (me).  Most fun–eating together at Dairy Queen and listening to Connie’s (who was mayor of Cameron for many years) tales of the city’s history.