Spiffing Up the Wildscape

by Sue Ann Kendall

There’s going to be a big visitor event at the Wildscape our chapter sponsors, and it’s coming up fast, so the garden needed a lot of pruning, weeding, and encouraging. Members got out early this morning and got to work pulling up what shouldn’t be there (overly enthusiastic grasses for the most part) and directing what should be there to their proper spots. A lot of the roses needed encouraging!

This smells so good.

There were enough people to help out that only a little dizziness or other heat issues developed, and as always there was plenty of camaraderie.

I admit that I may have spent more time taking pictures of bees, butterflies, and other insects than pulling weeds, but I did contribute! Besides, everyone likes pictures of flowers and pollinators, right?

After we were finished, we headed to Rockdale for lunch, where we ran into Linda Jo Conn and her family. The people in the restaurant must have thought it very weird that everyone in both large groups seemed to know each other. Volunteering can be fun.

The fairy garden is being reconstructed, so here’s a totally fake one you can imagine replacing the one at the Wildscape.

Wildscape Workday

by Catherine Johnson

The best time to work in the Milam Wildscape is after 7:00 p.m. at this time.  Everyone was ready to leave on a recent Saturday at 11:00 a.m.  However, Phyllis, Patricia, Dorothy, Carolyn, Kim, Jackie, and Catherine accomplished some specific tasks of pruning, eliminating aggressive vines and harvesting excess plants. 

Gene showed us the new major Bird Station in progress which will have water and native grasses and berries. Ann Collins is the coordinator and looks forward to future educational programs.

Native Texas Flower Bed Improving

By Carolyn Henderson

Progress is being made on the flower bed the chapter voted to develop into a native Texas plot. If faces Travis Street, so those of us who are in downtown Cameron regularly have paid attention to the ongoing battle with the non-planted plants running rampant in it. 

The bed after weeding

Some might call them weeds. But, some of them are native wild flowers that tend to be invasive – in that they overrun everything else around them. For example, Persimmons are coming up repetitively all over that bed, and they are very hard to get up.

Luckily, almost everything we planted has survived and is growing. We plan to plant more things in the  fall with the hopes of all of ours overrunning all he uninvited plants. We could put poison on the interlopers, but we don’t want to risk what we did plant. Mulch is on order to be put down this week.

The photos are from work done today. Jackie Thornton and Liz Lewis, both regulars at the plot, as well as Connie Anderle and Linda Jo Conn did a lot of work on the bed today. We also had an unexpected volunteer – Ed Guerrero – who is a master weed puller. I’m pretty sure we would not have gotten the whole thing done without him.

The weed pullers

Past contributors to the project have been Catherine Johnson, Phyllis Shuffield, and Pamela Neeley. If you can pull a weed, you can volunteer. When we are done, we all go have lunch to celebrate winning this battle against those unwanted invaders.

Antique Rose Emporium

by Catherine Johnson

On the way home from Washington-on-the Brazos, a group of Master Naturalists stopped by to visit the Antique Rose Emporium garden, which was stunning.  The new owners are continuing to add structures, add educational programs, and partner with NPSOT to stock many native plants.

One of the caretakers told of how they created a continuous flowing “creek” around the Cypress trees.  Available outdoor seating and refreshments help provide a peaceful experience in a Shire-like setting.

Happy May Day! Celebrate with flowers!