Texas Butterfly Ranch

Please don't be dissin' my favorite plant, Calvin Finch!

The syndicated Express News gardening columnist recently bashed Jimson W**d, an amazing, multi-tasking ecosystem services provider.

Jimson w**d serves as host and nectar source to the Sphinx moth, has gorgeous tubular white flowers that bloom at night and give off a redolent scent, and has a fascinating ethnobotanical history. It's drought tolerant, blooms when it's 100-degrees, and requires little care. Bees love it. So do I!

Finch's slash-and-poison recommendation for this Texas native represents an outdated gardening ethos. Read my defense of Jimson w**d, Datura Wrightii, in the first comment.

**d Native Plant Society of Texas San Antonio Chapter - Native Plant Society of Texas

Love walking my dogs at this new community asset in San Antonio—La Mariposa, a giant, gorgeous pavilion/shade structure/selfie stop.

Part of the recently opened Monarch Hotel San Antonio, this new addition to San Antonio’s downtown Hemisfair Park district will delight monarch butterfly buffs and others. Locals and tourists alike are flocking to the dramatic interpretation, which is especially impressive at night.

I recommend an evening stroll. Check it out! Link in profile or first comment. 😎

Monarch butterfly buffs will love La Mariposa pavilion, a new addition to San Antonio's downtown Hemisfair Park district.

Locals and tourists alike are flocking to the dramatic interpretation, which is especially impressive at night. I recommend an evening stroll. Popular selfie stop.

Check it out at link in first comment.

Hemisfair Hilton Hotels & Resorts The Monarch San Antonio The Monarch Butterfly Crusader Overland Partners

What a surprising and lovely evening!

I was shocked, honored, humbled and grateful to receive a Conservation Commendation Award from the Garden Club of America last night, whose Zone iX chapters have been meeting in San Antonio this week.

Thank you to the Alamo Heights Terrell Hills Garden Club chapter for nominating me and inviting me to present on my first book, The Monarch Butterfly Migration Its Rise and Fall.

It was sweet to read the recommendation letters various folks wrote on my behalf.

Gracias, Kelly Lyons, David Todd, Liz Boldrick, and GCA president Mary Harman. You flatter me with your kind words—keep it up!

😎

And very special thanks to my dear friend Katy Flato for managing my involvement and to Whitney Smith and Claire Alexander for shepherding me through the meeting.

Made some new gardening friends, as well, and hope to keep up with you all.

Gracias a todos. 🙏🏻

Join us at Texas Women’s University in Denton for National Wildflower Day tomorrowApril 24!

I’ll be joining more than a half dozen other speakers at this two-day event that will explore the magic, beauty and functions of wildflowers.

I’ll be starting my talk at 11 am, but check out the full schedule at the link below.

https://twu.edu/butterfly-garden/texas-wildflower-day/

Monika Maeckle | Plants for Pollinators

11-11:55 AM

ACT 301 on the TWU Campus
304 Administration Dr.Denton, TX 76204

This event is FREE. Hope to see you there!

Happy Earth Day!

Early spring began with ongoing drought and a disappointing wildflower show.

And then the rains came. Texas is delighted to enjoy this rain dump—more than half a foot in some places.

Now myriad wildflowers are popping up everywhere, some species I‘ve never seen before in certain contexts. More, please!

Read on for our wildflower report at link in first comment.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Society of Texas

A recent landscaping adventure resulted in myriad bonus ingredients in my “natural” Texas hardwood mulch. Lesson learned: when it comes to mulch, you get what you pay for.

Read on for details.

Have you noticed plastic trash and other garbage in your "natural mulch"? Yeah, it's a thing, and as it turns out, quite a challenge for suppliers to keep the junk out of the mulch.

I recently volunteered for a landscaping project that requires a substantial amount of mulch. Tons, in fact.

My son recently bought a home in an historic San Antonio neighborhood that included a massive, Bermuda grass lawn. Not surprisingly, I lobbied to turn part of the lawn into a pollinator habitat. Alex agreed.

What followed was a slew of questions regarding how plastic, rubber, styrofoam and other detritus finds its way into our mulch.

Read about my mulch travails at the link in first comment. And if you have mulch stories, please share. GRACIAS.

Rainbow Gardens Pollinatives The Nectar Bar Texas Master Gardeners