By Colleen Curran Hook, Executive Director of Quinta Mazatlan
One night a year, the Night Blooming Cereus bursts open with beauty. Few get to witness this glorious sight as they close before the morning sun. The cacti typically bloom all at once to attract pollinators like the Sphinx Moth. They need to bloom, set fruit and have their seeds dispersed before the end of their very short blooming season.
By Melinda Myers
Set aside a sunny spot in your garden or landscape for a few easy-care, herbaceous peonies. These traditional favorites are treasured for their bountiful early summer flowers, vigorous, shrub-like habit and amazing longevity. Peonies blend nicely with other perennials and are a good addition to both formal and informal garden designs.
The peony’s sumptuous flowers and captivating fragrance have been admired by generations of gardeners. While many other plants come and go, peonies have staying power. The variety ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ was introduced in 1906 and has been popular ever since. Its plush, pale pink flowers have silvery tips and open late in the peony season.
Read more: Lush Peonies Add Beauty and Fragrance to Early Summer Gardens
It’s as easy as 'one-two' to manage imported red fire ants
Written by Paul Schattenberg, 210-859-5752, paschattenberg@ag.tamu.edu
The Two-Step Method is the fire ant control method most preferred by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo)
Now is an ideal time to take the first step to fire ant control, said Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts.
“Spring is a good time to begin your imported red fire ant control because this is the time of year when the ants are searching for food and starting to build those mounds that make them much easier easy to locate,” said Mike Merchant, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension urban entomologist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas.
Read more: Spring is the time for Texans to ‘two-step’ toward fire ant control
May 25, 2020
My Fellow Texans,
Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. It is a day for Americans to offer tribute and honor to the heroes who laid down their lives to preserve our freedoms.
Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War. It was not until after World War I, that the day was expanded to honor those service men and women who have died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was officially declared a national holiday by an act of Congress.
Read more: Texas Veterans Commission letter honoring Memorial Day
By Colleen Hook, Executive Director at Quinta Mazatlan
One of the most near-perfect camouflaged birds is the Common Pauraque. The Pauraque has an understated beauty marked in brown-black and grey patterns and can just “disappear” on the Thornforest floor. While Pauraques are an adaptable species, they need forests to live and will leave areas that are heavily built up. Forests are important for many reasons from providing homes, to providing food, medicines and helping us breathe and keep cool.
Pauraques are unlike most other birds, as they really don’t construct nests. They make a scrape in the ground and lay eggs on the Thornforest floor on fallen leaves. A clutch consists of 1-3 eggs which are pink colored with buff spots. Incubation takes about 20 days and is carried out by both parents.
Colleen Curran Hook, Executive Director of Quinta Mazatlan
Springtime means new baby birds and celebrates rebirth and motherhood. Mother birds take parenting very seriously from building the nest to incubating the eggs and to finding food for her young. To quote Proverbs 31:10-31, “A mother’s work is never done”.
Bird nests are fascinating and as a general rule, the mother is the skilled builder designing the nest for support, shelter and camouflage. Some nests are intricately designed and others are scrapes in the ground. Let us look at the seven styles of Avian Architecture!
Written by Susan Himes, Susan.Himes@ag.tamu.edu
AgriLife experts warn stinging caterpillars can cause contact rashes, painful reactions
As the weather warms up and people begin spending more time in their yards, parks and forests, more people will be coming home with a rash or bug bite.
However, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts say before you blame a flying insect or a poisonous plant for a skin ailment, you may need to consider another culprit – stinging caterpillars.
Colleen Curran Hook, Executive Director of Quinta Mazatlán
The Century Plant only blooms once in a lifetime every 10 to 25, years so the century thing is an exaggeration, but a quarter of a century is still a long time. The plant is monocarpic in that it flowers, sets seed for pups and then dies. But it leaves plenty of pups or small plantlets at its base to begin a new life cycle.
Colleen Curran Hook, Executive Director of Quinta Mazatlán
There is a saying, “Life is like a cactus, prickly but beautiful” and the Strawberry Cactus is like Life. They flower in April with purple-pink-red flowers with whitish centers. They are synchronous bloomers in that they bloom at the same time to attract pollinators.
In 2017, a new architectural gem named the North Academic Building, also known as Building P, was built on the South Texas College Pecan Campus. With its modern design, impressive three stories, and welcoming atmosphere, it became a popular hub of campus activity. However, its substantial iridescent plate-glass windows and impressive height began to attract an unexpected type of attention.
Seemingly without explanation, birds, sometimes more than a dozen a day, were striking the tall windows and dying upon impact. This phenomenon was alarming, to say the least, and especially concerning for those who worked and studied in the building on a daily basis.
Colleen Curran Hook, Executive Director of Quinta Mazatlán
Seen throughout South Texas, the Retama is truly a stunning tree. At Quinta Mazatlán we describe it as a “Tree of Life” providing food and shelter to many a wild creature. In addition, the Retama can live on 12 inches of rain a year, a true native survivor in the Rio Grande Valley.
In the spring, the tree is covered in yellow flowers, and will bloom into the summer months. The flowers are unique in that they have five petals each, four yellow and one orange. The orange petal is known as the honey petal, providing nectar for bees and butterflies.
MCALLEN, TX- In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the adaption to our “new” reality, the Sunset Live Music Series has joined a number of concerts and artist who have taken the approach of the show must go on-line.
Sunset Live Music Series main objective for this season is to support the local music community who are among those affected by the spread of COVID-19 and continue to spread the happiness of music and health through livestreaming services in the comfort of your own home.
Read more: McAllen's Sunset Live outdoor music series - Must go on
Written by Colleen Hook, Quinta Mazatlán
Flowers bring joy—and your backyard can deliver flowers to you daily when you plant a Wild Olive tree, also known as the Anacahuita (pronounced ANA-COW-EAT-A). The citizens of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, honor this beautiful tree as their state flower.
Editor's Note: For when you are able to get out and about, there might still be some wildflowers to take pictures of. We wanted to share this with hope that our shelter-in-place orders don't last too long that we still get to enjoy Spring and what Mother Nature has given us to enjoy. These are guildelines to follow when taking pictures of wildflowers. Always remember to respect nature and, if you are out and about, social distancing.
By Paul Schattenberg, Texas A&M Agrilife Communications
With wildflowers sprouting up all over roadsides throughout Texas during springtime there are ample opportunities to take photos. But shutterbugs should be careful, as well as respect private property and nature, when trying to find the right spot for that perfect shot, said Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts.
Read more: Respect nature, property, others when taking wildflower photos
The kennels at Mission Animal Shelter are nearly full, and with more animals coming in daily, adoption fees are being waived until further notice. More than 40 cats and dogs are available for adoption now.
“We are reaching out to our community to help us find homes for the many deserving animals waiting to be adopted because our shelter is at capacity,” Ernie Zapata, Health Department Supervisor said. “Right now with so many people home during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, it’s a great time to add a pet to their family. We have more dogs and cats coming in every day and need the support of animal lovers and all citizens.”
