There are always surprises around Ebony Loop as we volunteers move from one garden to another.

Ebony Loop is one of the trails at the south side of Harlingen’s Hugh Ramsey Nature Park. Rio Grande Valley Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists and a couple of friends of the park tend specialty gardens each Thursday morning under the tutelage of chapter charter member, Frank Wiseman.

Some of the surprises are groan-inducing when we discover something unexpected needing our attention. Many more are of the “come look at this!” type.

Such was a really exciting surprise this week for all the tulipan lovers on our Thursday morning team.

The Rio Grande Valley’s only native hibiscus is named tulipan del monte, Hibiscus martianus. You may know it by heart leaf hibiscus. We like to call it tulipan because it’s a fun word to say. Give it a try: two-lee-pawn

Although a short lifespan (about three years), most of the specimens in the park struggle to reach the documented height of 24 inches. Nor do they usually live long enough to form a woody base.

This semi-hidden baby has a nice woody stem, two main branches stretching in opposite directions and numerous buds and brilliant red blooms.

We try to continue the species by capturing seeds at the right time and scattering them around our few existing tulipan colonies.

If you follow us on FaceBook, you may have noticed that we trimmed granjeno and mesquite branches from reaching over the trail from Hachinal Corner to Robert Runyon Garden this week. Runyon Garden was our final objective for the day.

Runyon Garden has a massive specialty shrub called elbow bush, Forestiera angustifolia. We’ve had our eye on a project for several months after we discovered a large colima, Zanthoxylum fagara, growing up the middle of the elbow bush. In full leaf, it was hard to distinguish two separate species growing together. I was describing characteristics of elbow bush while guiding a tour when things didn’t add up.

Checking the base at earth level, it was obvious that two thick trunks of colima were decidedly different than the multi-stemmed elbow bush.

Double the beauty of green leaves and double critter food and shelter, you’re thinking? Me, too. But no. One of the theories our native plant and habitat guru, Frank Wiseman, impresses upon us is that when two trees/shrubs/plants grow too close together, both suffer. Better to remove one and let the remaining specimen thrive.

Frank’s taught us an easy way to decide which tree gets the hatchet and which one lives. The Runyon Garden elbow bush is one of the few in the park. Along the trail from Runyon Garden are quite a number of colima, therefore, this colima was sacrificed to allow the approximately 20-year-old elbow bush to take up the center of Runyon Garden in all its splendor. We’re hoping it will soon begin leafing out again from the thorough soaking we gave it.

While re-stashing the water hose in the wilderness, we came upon the amazing native hibiscus. It’s one of the best tulipan specimens I’ve ever seen. Quietly putting on a spectacular show, probably laughing at us, it was blooming in the partial shadow of a black brush, Acacia rigidula, tree and surrounded by native grasses, not ten feet from where we’d been working.

If you haven’t been to Harlingen’s Hugh Ramsey Nature Park in a while, there are a lot of plants in bloom even though this is the time of year when things are still heat stressed. Recent rains helped as did weekly watering by the Thursday morning volunteer team.

Don’t forget about our bi-monthly Ebony Loop nature walks on-going now through May 2017.

9 – 11 a.m.

October – Saturday 22nd

November – Friday 4th; Saturday 19th

December – Friday 2nd; Saturday 17th

January – Friday 6th; Saturday 21st

February – Friday 3rd; Saturday 18th

March – Friday 3rd; Saturday 18th

April – Friday 7th; Saturday 22nd

May – Friday 5th; Saturday 20th

·         Tours begin in the parking lot

·         Two hours of advanced training

·         Easy ¼ mile walk on caliche trail

·         Casual dress, sturdy shoes

·         Bring water and bug spray

·         Restrooms at park entrance

·         Reservations encouraged for enough guides for an optimum experience

·         Call:   956-748-3190 or e-mail: rgvctmntreasurer@gmail.com

Tell us about the fun surprises you’ve discovered in your own garden this fall.