‘HOUSTON’S DIVERSE ECOLOGY’ CHALLENGE FOR GARDENERS BUT NATIVES ARE THRIVING!
BY Brenda Beust Smith
ECOREGION MAP OF GREATER HOUSTON. Tip o’
trowel to Houston Gardening Facebook Page, a great resource for both new and experienced gardeners. And a Special tip o’ the trowel to JULIA WATTERSON for
introducing me to this map. It’s probably been on the Native Plant Society of Texas’ website for a long time. But that
site is so packed with great information, guess I just missed it.
And thanks to NPSOT-Houston Board Director-at-Large DOREEN GALLEVO, who reports she used the map to help fill her gardens almost exclusively with plants from the Gulf Coast ecoregion which, she notes, encompasses almost all of Houston until you get north of Beltway 8. Among Doreen’s observations:
“This past summer, I think people were surprised to see anything surviving, let alone thriving. I have lots of tough Texas natives that have made it through the drought with little to no supplemental watering, including blooms through through August on my American basket-flower (Centaurea americana), black- eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), butterfly gaura (Oenothera lindheimeri), prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera), and cowpen daisy (Verbesina encelioides).
“Several fall-blooming species of native sunflower, goldenrod, and mistflower grew through the drought and are blooming now. Since the rain, so many have perked back up and are blooming again, like tropical sage (Salvia coccinea), rosinweed (Silphium radula var. gracile), and rock rose (Pavonia lasiopetala).
Native clump grasses are all still green and displaying beautiful inflorescence.
TRUTH IN REPORTING: Doreen wants everyone to understand she photographed all these (except cowpen daisy) as unwatered-until-early August bloomers. Cowpen was blooming poorly but really perked up in mid-August when Doreen broke down and began watering!
MORE GREAT NATIVE POLLINATOR FLOWERS GREAT FOR OUR AREA
Mercer Botanic Garden’s Saturday, Oct. 14Pollinator Festival and Plant Sale will offer these delights above: l to r, Gaura, tickseed sunflower;Salvia coccinea (Scarlet tropical sage), Helianthus angustifolius (Swamp Sunflower), and Wisteria frutescens (American Wisteria).
OK, HOLD IT! Before you send me nasty emails, pictured above & at right is NOT the invasive Chinese (Asian) wisteria we all grew for decades and is now smothering forests of wonderful trees across the South! “AMERICAN wisteria” grows two-thirds as tall and half as long racemes (shortest of the wisteria family) as the Asian invaders.
Bloom time is also sometimes shorter than many Asian varieties. But the American flowers are scented, and its seed pods are smooth rather than velvety when mature.
It may be hard to find now, but thanks to resources like Mercer Botanic Gardens, this is changing. A good place to start . . .
SAT., OCT. 14: POLLINATOR FESTIVAL AND PLANT SALE,
8am-3pm, Mercer Botanic Garden, 22306 Aldine Westfield, Humble.
In-person shopping only. Plant Plant Preview
* * *
Brenda Beust Smith’s column is based on her 40+ years
as Houston Chronicle’s Lazy Gardener Email: lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com
— Note: This column’s gardening advice focuses ONLY on
the Greater Houston area. Personal reports MUST include your area.
* BRENDA’S “LAZY GARDENER GUIDE” is no longer sold.
However, free pdf copies aupon request at lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com
* * *
NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SOIL AND PLANTS # 259
Subject: fungi-algae bioinoculants sprayable mulch gardening and mental bees
Research by the Czech Academy of Sciences has discovered a new symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae. The fungi corticioid basidiomycetes that are common in temperate forests, when forming a partnership with algae is called “alcobiosis.”
Thru DNA mapping they confirmed this type partnership was very common with many fungal species. The algae were found to be alive, active, and engaged in photosynthesis while living inside the fungal hyphae.
The researchers also discovered that the spread of these alcobioses was aided by small gastropods (slugs and snails) whom feed on the fungi. The
excrement from these gastropods contained viable cells of both the algae and fungi.
The next question is why do these microbes form the partnership and why? Scientific Reports (2023)
We are learning more and more every day about the importance of microbes to have healthy soil so we have healthy plants. A study in the Journal HortTechnology (2023) was on the use of commercial bioinoculants.
Bioinoculants may be bacteria, algae, fungi, or other microbes. The researchers tested three different brands of commercial bioinoculants on grapevines. They found that mycorrhizal colonization of the roots was increased, grapevine petiole nutrient concentration was increased, additionally root diameter, root length, root density was also increased.
Some brands contain humates, work castings, or other amendments in one package. We are all familiar with the MicrolifeTM line of fertilizers both granular and liquids. They also produce a very good bioinoculant called MicroGroTM.
New research in weed control has produced biobased sprayable mulch (BSM) which are an alternative to herbicides. According to a multi-year trial published in HortTechnolgy (2023), these films were very effective in reducing weeds up to 96% in some cases.
They found that using in combination with corn gluten meal increased its effectiveness. University studies have found corn gluten meal to be effective on at least 22 species of common weeds. It contains around 10% nitrogen hence as it breaks down it acts as a slow-release fertilizer.
Another research paper published in HortTechnology (2023) has found that gardening effects our brain function. They found that the function and connectivity was activated by soil preparation, weeding, fertilizing, etc.
The study provided evidence that gardening can stimulate positive emotions, meditation, creativity, attention, and relaxation and reduce depression.
A new study has found that when the gut bacteria receive nutrients from plants, they signal the brain to turn off the “eat more food” messages that lead to overeating and obesity. Journal Gut (2023)
Another reason to eat organically-grown food grown on healthy soil full of primary nutrients, trace elements and micro-nutrients.
Speaking of nutrition, a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports (2023) was on bees. We have known for some time that bees’ main source of carbohydrates come from nectar, while they get protein and fat from pollen.
This study used DNA mapping on pollen and honey to find out which flowers
the bees were using. They found out that the bees were more selective than previously thought and only use a fraction of the available plants.
As gardeners, we know that different fruits and vegetables are high in different nutrients. Similarly, bees select flowers that have the nutrients they require to be healthy.
I recently finished reading an interesting book on the fascinating insects we know as bees. Bees have a form of intelligence that lets them memorize data and evaluate food sources. They also have different senses than mammals that allows them certain advantages in their ecological niche.
The Mind of A Bee, by Lars Chittka, 2022, Princton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-18047-2
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ABOUT US
BRENDA BEUST SMITH WE KNOW HER BEST AS THE LAZY GARDENER . . . but Brenda Beust Smith is also:
- a national award-winning writer & editor
- a nationally-published writer & photographer
- a national horticultural speaker
- a former Houston Chronicle reporter
When the Chronicle discontinued Brenda’s 45-year-old Lazy Gardener” print column — started in the early ’70s as a fun side-project to reporting, it then ranked as the longestrunning, continuously-published local newspaper column in the Greater Houston area. The name, she says, is not just fun, it’s true. Brenda’s gradual sideways step from reporter into gardening writing led first to an 18-year series of when-to-do-what Lazy Gardener Calendars, then to her Lazy Gardener’s Guide book which morphed into her Lazy Gardener’s Guide on CD, which she now emails free upon request. Brenda became a Harris County Master Gardener and, over the years, served on theboards of many Greater Houston area horticulture organizations. She hosted local radio and TV shows, most notably a 10+-year Lazy Gardener specialty shows on HoustonPBS (Ch. 8) and her call-in “EcoGardening” show on KPFT-FM. For over three decades, Brenda served as Assistant Production Manager of the GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA’S “BULLETIN” magazine. Although still an active broad-based freelance writer, Brenda’s main focus now is THE LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS HOUSTON GARDEN NEWSLETTER with John Ferguson and Pablo Hernandez of Nature’s Way Resources. A native of New Orleans and graduate of St. Agnes Academy and the University of Houston, Brenda lives in Humble, TX, and is married to the retired Aldine High School Coach Bill Smith. They have one son, Blake. Regarding this newsletter, Brenda is the lead writer, originator of it and the daily inspiration for it. We so appreciate the way she has made gardening such a fun way to celebrate life together for such a long time.
JOHN FERGUSON John is a native Houstonian and has over 27 years of business experience. He owns Nature’s Way Resources, a composting company that specializes in high quality compost, mulch, and soil mixes. He holds a MS degree in Physics and Geology and is a licensed Soil Scientist in Texas. John has won many awards in horticulture and environmental issues. He represents the composting industry on the Houston-Galveston Area Council for solid waste. His personal garden has been featured in several horticultural books and “Better Homes and Gardens” magazine. His business has been recognized in the Wall Street Journal for the quality and value of their products. He is a member of the Physics Honor Society and many other professional societies. John is is the co-author of the book Organic Management for the Professional. For this newsletter, John contributes articles regularly and is responsible for publishing it.
PABLO HERNANDEZ Pablo Hernandez is the special projects coordinator for Nature’s Way Resources. His realm of responsibilities include: serving as a webmaster, IT support, technical problem solving/troubleshooting, metrics management and quality control. Pablo helps this newsletter happen from a technical support standpoint.
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