The Plant Swap / Native Plant Appreciation shindig succeeded way beyond our original expectations, expecially considering it rained just before the event. Maybe 40 people attended. Paul Johnson of the Texas Forestry Service showed up with his wife and kids and seemed very happy ... and the reporter from the Island Breeze was thankful for somebody who could spout rapid-fire, sensible quotes. Several other botanists and the Brownsville Forestry Officer, Eddie Kuprel were also there to share information. The cool thing was that almost everybody brought plants and left with plants.

Thanks go to all the Islanders and folks from around the area that attended ... and hopefully now have some new natives to plant. You deserve the credit, not us!

Sam Saves a Sophora

Read all about it!
PLUS some good links for identifying local plants

Here's a tree called the Tepeguaje - hey I'm not making this up! Apparently is is very rare and I only know of one or two stands of the 25-foot trees on the Island. Identification was provided by Scarlet Colley and the Native Plant Project (NPP) up the Valley.

Few know how to pronounce it, some calling it "Huisache Fever" even though it is a relative of the Mimosa. Anyway, it attracts all kinds of rare birds and is quite beautiful. This shot is a close-up of its lower flowering branches.

Please support National Arbor Day on April 28th and look here for more info ...

I have just returned from planting 5 lantana plants at City Beach Access 5. This is where for the past year I have been trying to create a butterfly garden. A woman with her child walked by and asked if I was being paid to do this. I told her no and that I just did it because I like to. She thanked me. This past Wednesday some highschool students went before the BOA to ask if they could turn the "suburban carpet grass backyard looking" lot behind the Visitors' Center into a Butterfly Garden. When any teenagers come forward to make such a request they should be embrased and encouraged! But instead there were concerns. What if the city wants to sell it later (can't have people getting attached to it -- look what's happening at Isla Blanca Park!) Can you imagine if NYC had this attitude -- there wouldn't be a Central Park! (My husband pointed out that's where all the muggings take place -- yes, parks can be dangerous.) Another concern was brought up by Mr. Cunningham that there is alot of traffic and the birds might be in danger. If the birds walked across the street, perhaps -- but birds fly and so do butterflies -- now if there were lots of airplanes flying around behind the Visitor's Center, there truly might be a danger -- I'm sorry Cunningham's arguement just doesn't fly.

The point is simple. All the lots are being developed. There will be no habitat areas anywhere except on public land, in private yards and on the dunes. It should be a matter of public policy to adopt the use of natives and butterfly-attacting plants into their landscaping. Butterfly gardens should be everywhere! Port Isabel has been doing a great job of creating hot spots of color on there street corners. On the island, Zeste has done a beautiful job and there are other businesses starting to do the same. We must all donate a little space in our gardens for habitat.

Maybe Lady Bird Johnson had a huge influence on me or maybe it's because I'm from Austin -- but in my opinion wild flowers are not weeds.

I got excited last week when I saw that the Island Breeze - which is a very fine publication IMHO - had published a story on landscaping on SPI. I love working in my backyard and am always interested in tips on what and how to grow stuff here. I know it is a challenge and so was not put off by the title: "Growing Pains - It's not easy being a green thumb on the Island." True enough - so tell me something I don't know...

I hoped to read on to find out some useful tips but alas! the article is comprised mostly of interviews with a couple of professional landscapers whose best advice would appear to be "don't try this at home without professional supervision." The writer also interviews a non-professional former resident whose best advice is -- "get advice from professionals."

And four out of five professional sandcastle builders suggest you leave your next sandcastling beach excursion in the capable hands of the people who do it for a living - US!!!

I have never consulted with a professional landscaper -- even so, I think I have a pretty wonderful backyard and would like to take the writer of that article on a tour if she were so inclined.

We would start the tour on the patio - the one with all the healthy, blooming potted things - and turn left at the sandbox, noting the tall border (12 ' plus?) of flowering purple and orange honeysuckle. Along the east fence is a big fringe of vincas and prickly pear, bougainvillea and a lantana that just appeared one day. Throw in a big patch of purple shower petunias and note the lovely shade - and privacy - being provided by the strand of very tall pine trees that extends along the back fence. The birds love those trees. We would head west to get a closer look at the 3 palm trees (one is Chinese, one is Mexican, the third is a garden-variety washingtonian or something like that) - one magnificently huge yucca and the gladiola bulbs are about a foot tall these days. There is a lovely magenta bougainvillea offering partial shade to the outdoor living room (chair, sofa and table all made from driftwood), framed by a Texas sage that puts out delicate purple flowers. And this is where things start getting a bit jungly - but in a really colorful, tropical way.

More vincas. The coolest and possibly tallest prickly pear tree you have ever seen. The west side of the sandbox is bordered with oleander, hibiscus (hell, it's not hard finding things that grow here - just look for plants that have the same names as South Padre Island streets!) and what Nancy Marsden has called the "Most Fuschia Backyard of the Month," all intertwined with more of the orange honeysuckle stuff. Along the fence you will note the "Fred and Feets Memorial Rose Bed" which at the moment is boasting no less than 8 blooms. Get a whiff of the jasmine as you make the corner and yes, that is one very large bamboo tree arching gracefully over the hot tub and its brick and tile staircase/platform.

Some of these plants were given to me. Most were either dug up from other places on the island (with the owner's permission, of course!) or purchased from the town during an arbor day sale (do we still have those? If we do, when is arbor day this year? and if we don't, why not??!) .... or from Wallyworld. Plain old Walmart - and the pre-super duper one, at that!

“The Island is definitely not the tropical paradise it’s promoted to be.” That's what a professional landscaper is quoted as saying.
Dogshit, say I. And that is the best tip I can give potential landscapers -- professional and non.