Author: Anita Westervelt
-
A little on the wild side
—
by
Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, a member of the Solanaceae family. This particular species needs further identification to include: [Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiforme]. This is one of those plants you may suddenly find in your garden, as did I, one spring. I left the plant to do its…
-
Anita’s Blog — A Bit on the Wild Side
This is about one of those plants you suddenly find in your garden. When I found my first surprise-it-looks-like-a-tomato-plant vine in an obscure portion of our yard a couple of years ago, I left it to do its own thing, hoping to eventually identify it. Yes, it looked like a tomato vine, smelled like a…
-
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
—
by
by Marilyn Lorenz photos by Chuck Lorenz You see them everywhere. Flying overhead with a soft wheesh-wheeshing sound, floating in every bit of water they can find, or even just standing around hanging out in your backyard. These are our own very special kind of duck – the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. Once found only in…
-
Must-have butterfly and hummingbird plants for summer entertainment
—
by
By Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist You’ve been following this column and rushed out to plant important nectar plants to bring in hummingbirds and butterflies for your summer entertainment. Your Esperanza, Tecoma stans, (The Monitor, September 7, 2019) is about to bloom. Now is the time to prune it if you want a different shape.…
-
Anita’s Blog — Along the Road
The first day of March brought a fun surprise — a new bird! I was so excited, my squeal of delight knocked the bird clear out of the tree, even though I was still in the kitchen, viewing the tiny wonder through the glass. I grabbed my camera anyway and waited, leaning my elbows on…
-
Beware the beautiful but invasive plants
—
by
Story and photo by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Native plants are those naturally occurring in an area without human introduction. Invasive plants, on the other hand, are non-native species that are able to establish themselves within existing native plant communities and can become a threat to the integrity of the ecological community. A plant…