Category: Anita’s blog

Versatile, nutritious and beautiful, native Barbados cherry is a great landscape addition by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Bring some Caribbean flavor to your Valley garden with a Barbados cherry, Malpighia glabra. This densely-branched shrub has many names in the Caribbean, West Indies and South America. In Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy counties, its northern…

The Texas spiny lizard, hiding in plain sight by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist One quiet Sunday afternoon, the mesquite tree offered a strange silhouette. I did a double-take, sucked in my breath and realized I was about to capture, on camera, something I’d been after for months: the Texas Spiny Lizard, in its favorite…

Unique and rare native plants add excitement to Valley nature parks by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Extreme south Texas’ native habitat has some pretty unique plants that are not found elsewhere in the U.S. Mexican buttonbush, Cephalanthus salicifolius, is one such shrub that only grows on the banks of the Rio Grande in Cameron…

Fascination with Fasciation by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Fasciated is a weird word for a weird botanical condition. Pronounced făsh′ē-ā′tĭd, it is a rare, abnormal growth in vascular plants — plants that possess xylem (water-conducting tissue) and phloem (food-conducting tissue). In normal plant growth, the growing tip (commonly the flowering part) is normally concentrated…

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…

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,…