Author: Anita Westervelt
-
Critter Hideaway
—
by
Brush piles can be a fascinating way to observe wildlife in your own back yard Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Brush piles can provide shelter to small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds, especially in urban areas where natural cover might not be available. They also can provide protection for animals such…
-
Anita’s Blog — Tree Planting Time
Yay! It’s tree planting time again! It’s cooler, the sun not so strong, making the winter months the time to buy more trees! Consider planting one of the Valley’s old standards — not only to benefit your yard and attract birds and butterflies — but to promote a healthy native habitat. Before you read further,…
-
Anita’s Blog — Surprises on Ebony Loop
Harlingen’s Hugh Ramsey Nature Park is still reaping benefits from the fall rains. December’s First Friday guided native plant walk around Ebony Loop was anything but boring! The recent cold snaps, and then subsequent warm weather, have urged a few pink mint, Stachys drummondii, into bloom at the entrance to Tom Wilson Garden. Generally…
-
Anita’s Blog: Vines add vertical interest while attracting birds and butterflies
Several years ago, I dedicated a partially dead mesquite tree as a natural trellis for a native climbing milk-weed (Funastrum cynanchoides). The vine traveled up the trunk and reached the highest branches by the second spring. Lovely globes of pink-edged white blooms peppered the vine in summer. Flowers turned into dangling, short fleshy tear-drops, like…
-
Anita’s Blog — Not So Usual Suspects
November’s winding down. Thanksgiving feasts extended to the resaca this year, as flock-friends and their relatives arrived to partake of the water’s bounty. No less than 50 White Pelicans have been feasting. Although fun to watch and photograph, they can deplete the fish stores in a hurry. They really need to move along to…
-
Anita’s Blog — Love Affair with Vines
If ever there was a love/hate relationship, it’s with vines. Some people hate them while others think they’re pretty cool. I’m in that latter category. I like to know something’s value before I categorically pluck it out of the soil. It’s no different with vines. I try to research what they’re all about. It…