2010 Implementation Plan

Recently I was given a copy of a report that was presented to the Board of Aldermen July 19, 2000 by the Ad Hoc Plan 2010 Committee. This committee put out a very extensive report that you can find on the town's website under "Reports and Documents". The mission of the committee was "to identify, document and provide specific recommendations involving short and long term issues requiring planning and funding, and to present these recommendations to the Board of Aldermen for their consideration and action."

The report is very well done and everyone should take a look at it and consider how we as individuals and as a community can implement their recommendations.

The creation of a continuous dune line, more use of indigenous plants and trees, continued concern for the environment, a zero-tolerance policy regarding litter are just a few of the many important issues that the report highlights.

This September SPI GARDENS will meet to discuss what we can do to help implement page 11 of the report: Landscaping Issues -- More use of indigenous plants and trees.

Place and time will be posted soon.

Butterfly Garden

There is a romantic idea about a Butterfly Garden being lovely fluttering butterflies feasting on the nectar of beautiful flowers but it’s not a real butterfly garden unless you have caterpillars which some gardeners detest and work hard to destroy.

In planning your garden, it’s essential to have plants that feed the butterfly and plants that feed the caterpillar. And when they arrive and ravage your plants, then congratulate yourself; you have succeeded as a butterfly gardener.

Today’s menu:
Palofoxia Family: Compositae Palafoxia texana
Silver Nightshade Family: Solanaceae Solanum elaeagnifolium
Cowpen Daisy Family: Compositae Verbesina encelioides


These are all native plants that are in bloom and are hosting caterpillars on the island this July 2006.

For more information about our native plants, refer to Wildflowers and Other Plants of Texas Beaches and Islands by Alfred Richardson, University of Texas Press, Austin, 2002. Also by this author, Plants of the Rio Grande Delta.