submitted by Catherine Johnson
We thought you might enjoy this little video of the event our chapter helped out with at Bird and Bee Farm for the Girl Scouts of Milam County. Enjoy the bobwhite quail release!
Field Full of Flowers
by Donna Lewis
The pastures at our place did not get mowed during the time we normally do that this spring. I really hate to mow at all. Too many little things live there.
The rain and strange weather threw our normal twice a year mowing off. So, we have very high grass with dewberries and other various stuff everywhere. You cannot even walk through it.
The wildflowers have stopped blooming. So, while we thought we should mow it. But, I looked out and there were morning glories on top of all the grass with hundreds of butterflies everywhere. What a beautiful sight.
So it is always good to consider who is using your pastures. You might need to wait until they are finished and then mow. Mother Nature never mowed her fields…I like to learn from her.
So just to make my other half happy, I said she could mow just around the edges. So now the butterflies were happy, but something else was not. The toads starting hopping for their lives. Oh boy! Most of them were Gulf Coast Toads.
So I walked ahead , caught all I could see and carried them to safety elsewhere. I just couldn’t let them get run over. I rescued about 20 or so.
Another day in the life of a Master Naturalist.
In the Media: Citizen Scientists
By Sue Ann Kendall
Do you get the Texas Co-op Power magazine? It’s actually one of my favorites. The writing is great, and I’m always learning something about rural Texas on its pages.
This month, I was excited to see “citizen scientists” right on the cover. Who could they be talking about? Sure enough, when I turned to page 8, there was a lovely article all about opportunities to contribute to science around the state.
Though the article talks about many opportunities, we’re in there, too. Some of our favorite projects, like CoCoRaHS, are mentioned, along with Nature Trackers and iNaturalist. There are photos of Tania Homayoun and Craig Hensley doing their stuff for Texas Parks and Wildlife and using iNaturalist.
Of course, there has to be a tie-in to electric co-ops. Who could be better than our own Linda Jo Conn! Yep, she gets quoted! We can charitably ignore the lack of capitalization when they mention Texas Master Naturalists.
So, if you get your electricity from one of the amazing Texas rural electric co-ops, don’t throw away your monthly magazine this month! If you don’t get the magazine, never fear. It’s online right here.
It makes you proud to be a citizen scientist, even though that’s not the preferred term for many people, who now say “community scientist” instead. Well, we know who we are.
Milam Wildscape New Acquisitions
by Catherine Johnson
Wholesalers are offering sales now, so new natives have been acquired for the Milam Wildscape. They include Mexican bush sage, Convent sage, Benny’s acanthus, Mexican flame vine, Dwarf Barbados cherry, and Fragrant mist flower.
Humidity is causing fungus on some plants, but most are thriving. We will have many native plants, seeds and cuttings to give away in the fall.
Please click on any photo to see the entire image.
Adagio grass in bloom 
Buffalo grass for picnic area 
Carolyn’s spinach vine 
Girl Scout milkweed growing 
Flame-leaf sumac 
Hibiscus 
Guinea fowl on patrol 
Repurposed door 
Pink Turk’s cap 
Statuary 
Frogs 
Frogs 
Cindy’s thrift store finds
Donna’s Garden in August
by Donna Lewis
Here is what my garden looks like here in the hot month of August. Many wonderful things wait until it’s really hot to come out and look pretty.
This year the weather has been a little crazy. Something I think will be the norm going forward. We just need to be flexible in our expectations and go with the flow… and share our experiences.
Click on any of the photos to see an expanded view.
The entrance gate with Passion Vine and Cypress Vine 
Pipevine coming back after fifth time being eaten to the ground. 
Zinnias 
