Another classroom visit

For the third week in a row, science teacher Pam Meier brought three students from the Blanco Middle School to tour our Wildscape. They walk from campus and stay about a half hour. Today, we listened for the calls of baby mockingbirds begging parents to feed them and the chorltes of adult purple martins flying overhead. I showed them tiny caterpillars munching on passionflower vines and explained how, in nature, many plants feed specific insects. Which is why you shouldn't always squash them when you find them in your gardens. They asked about the turk's cap (photo above), which grows in the wild here in the Hill Country. However, we couldn't find the species in the guidebooks they brought (the classic Wildflowers of Texas by Geyata Ajilvsgidoesn't include turk's cap, darn it).

The girls will return for two more Wednesday morning tours. Then it's summer vacation! In the meantime, Pam and I are discussing the idea of having more students come next year, which would be GREAT! I love sharing our Texas Wildscape.
 

Note to self

This morning along the fence in The Meadow, I scattered seeds from white rock lettuce (Pinaropappus roseus) given to us by Linda and Ron Chang last Friday.

New bird

My bird expert Joanne thinks this was a female common yellowthroat (sighted May 16), which migrate through Central Texas. These aren't great images because I crop'em tight.

New friends and new plants

Last Friday, we spent the afternoon, exploring the native gardens around the home of Ron and Linda Chang. WOW! Their collection is AMAZING! They started 19 years ago when they bought their land and built a home. We saw so many species! Not to mention both Ron and Linda know each by their BOTANICAL name. We have to go back because we didn't get to see everything. 

To my delight, they sent us home with six new friends:
 
Goldeneye (Viguiera dentata)
Lindheimer's crownbeard (Verbesina lindheimeri)
Bird wing passionflower (Passiflora tenuiloba)  
Pearl milkweed (Matelea reticulata) 
Wafer ash (Ptelea trifoliata)
Mexican orchid (Bauhinia mexicana) [Note: Not native to Texas but great butterfly nectar host]

I'm VERY excited to get a pearl milkweed. I've wanted one of those for a long time. And another native passionflower vine, too. Wonderful!

THANK YOU, Ron and Linda! 

BAD snail!

HA! Two years ago, I thought this was "Just a snail." Well, it's a snail, all right. But the non-native milk snail (Otala lactea), which is a BAD BAD BAD snail. (Unless, as I joked two years ago, you happen to love escargot.) This spring, I've found more milk snails in our Wildscape than ever before. Like coreopsis leaf beetles and English house sparrows, I HATE THIS SNAIL SPECIES. It doesn't belong here, and it eats our plants.

I'll never forget a photo posted by a friend of mine on her Facebook page. A plant in her yard was COVERED with these snails. That was a red flag to me. The picture told me that this species CAN get out of hand. So ever since then, I've killed them (I place a piece of ball moss on top of the thing, then STOMP), or I get my sweet Hit Man (James) to do the execution. I still don't like to kill stuff.

So how'd they get here? Snail expert/Mollusk Man Max Anton wrote me in 2011 that: "All Helicidae are exotic, having been imported from Europe and Asia Minor. The milk snail is formerly known as the Spanish Edible Snail, so it is probably more closely associated with the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa. I'm not sure how Otala lactea found its way specifically to the Hill Country, but most likely, it migrated there after being introduced in other parts of the country for the escargot trade. Snails have a knack for hitching rides in potted plants, shipping crates, and other transported goods.

Around here, I've found them on the outside of our house. In the grass. On the sides of potted plants. Earlier this week, I spotted a small one at the Blanco Good Samaritan Center. Squish!  So look around your yard, especially after a rain. I bet you have some, too. But I sure hope not!

Milk snail on spiderwort

I found two snails on the same spiderwort this morning. I summoned my favorite Hit Man, and he took care of the varmints for me.

Purple martin nest check

 FOUR EGGS!  

She lays one each consecutive morning around sunrise, no more than seven.

Happy belated anniversary!

We received some anniversary cash for our May 2 (number seven!), and I know these special people wanted us to spend ALL of it on nice dinners out. Well, we did indulge at a seafood restaurant. But we had a lot left...so what else would James and Sheryl do but buy PLANTS! Naturally! Today we visited Blanco Gardens and came home with: damianita (six), grey santolina (two), green santolina (two), salvias (pink, red and 'Nuevo Leon'), cedar sage (three), pink skullcap (one) and one catnip. James didn't feel good, but he planted nearly everything (I took care of a few plants). He'd been wanting to get a front bed looking better. And it does now! I love you, James!