Passport to Texas

Bill Neiman talking to attendees of the Pollinator Pow Wow, Kerrville, Texas, September 2015. Photo: Cecilia Nasti

TPW Magazine: Seeds of Hope Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Bill Neiman [NEE-man] started saving native seeds and plants when he realized Texas had been losing its indigenous flora to development.

11- He’s truly a visionary in this area. And there were a few people around the state, and he and his wife Jan-in the mid to late 80s-made it a point to seek out these people.

Camille Wheeler wrote about Neiman for Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine. Neiman, who owned a landscaping business, watched non-native plants die without daily watering, when so-called native “weeds” thrived with nothing.

10-He just immediately made the connection: these non-natives are water hogs. He started looking for other people like him.

He found author and native landscaping expert, Sally Wasowski. They met in 1985 when Neiman attended a native plant conference where she gave the keynote.

18-She was challenging the audience. She said: where can we find native plants, and who can be trusted to grow them? And Bill Neiman–he didn’t even know he was going to do this–he just sprang to his feet and shouted out: I will do it! I have a nursery; I’m in Flower Mound, Texas and I’m converting the whole thing to native plants.

There’s more to this fascinating story, Seeds of Hope, by Camille Wheeler; find it in the October issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Gayfeather

TPW TV: The Plant Guy, Jason Singhurst Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Jason Singhurst is a man outstanding in his field. In fact, he stands in lots of fields…and prairies. He’s a botanist with Texas Parks and Wildlife.

04-That is a Blazing Star of Kansas Gayfeather.

Jason is responsible for creating and updating the rare plant community list for the Texas conservation action plan.

03-[The] gamma grass–they’re in flower right now.

Jason has published over 90 articles on the plants of Texas, and has produced the largest data set on native prairies in America. He also works closely with
volunteers, like Katie Emde with the Native Plant Society of Houston.

10-It’s such a treat to go out with Jason in the field, because he knows so much; he’s so eager to teach and share his knowledge. And, it’s so much fun when he gets excited about plants.

Jason Singhurst has added to herbariums in Texas, won awards, and co-authored a book on rare Texas plants. But what give him the most pride?

07-Well, I think the one thing I’m most proud of is discoveries. I’ve actually found species that have never been described and have been able to publish on them. It makes me very happy.

Get to know more about Jason Singhurst and his work next week on a segment of the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV show. Check local listings.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

A relaxing wildscape for wildlife and humans.

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This is Passport to Texas

Putting out feeders is one way to attract wildlife to your yard. A better way is to create a wildscape.

04-What a wildscape is, is landscaping for wildlife.

Ornithologist, Cliff Shackelford, says this includes native plants that provide food and shelter; most urban yards, however, traded native habitat for lawns.

18- So, any little help you can [give] by putting in a wildscape really helps. And even if you don’t have a yard, you can do a wildscape on your patio with pots. I have seen hummingbirds go up to the 6th floor balcony of condos where someone has showy plants that say, “hummingbird come up here.”

A variety of berry and nectar producing plants will draw wildlife to your yard–or balcony.

17- You want to always stick to natives because they’re acclimated to the soil and the weather and the rainfall that you’re going to give them. And then, you want to make sure that they have some value to wildlife: that they’re going to give you the nectar to attract butterflies; they’re going to have
berries at the right time when the cedar waxwings come, and so forth.

Fall is the best time to plant native trees, woody shrubs and perennials. But you can start planning your wildscape now.

That’s our show– Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

A black bear looks for a beehive in a tree in Big Bend’s Chisos Mountains

TPW Mag: Sharing Responsibility for Nature Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

The Chihuahuan desert ecosystem sprawls across Texas and Mexico, making the conservation of its flora and fauna a shared responsibility between the two nations. However, writer Melissa Gaskill says the conservation philosophies of the countries differ.

21—In this country, we form something like Big Bend National Park, and it’s just for the recreation and the wildlife, and people don’t live there. On the Mexican side, they have more of sort of what we would see as a conservation easement approach. Where an area is protected, but there are still homes and ranches and villages—life goes on—but they behave a little differently toward nature.

Gaskill wrote the article Nature Without Borders for the April issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine. Although the US and Mexico share conservation challenges, they also share the successes.

31—One of the successes is black bears. They disappeared on this side back in the 1950s, but given the remoteness of the country on the Mexican side, they remained there, and once they started protecting them actively in Mexico, and we started having all these protected lands on this side that provided good habitat, the bears on their own, crossed the river and repopulated in the Big Bend area. And, they’re doing pretty well; they have the potential to spread elsewhere within Texas where there’s good habitat.

Learn more about the flora and fauna of this area of Texas when you read Melissa Gaskill’s article Nature Without Borders in the April issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

A backyard wildscape with native plants.

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Everyone loves instant color when planting flowers and shrubs, but plants provide more than just visual appeal.

06—Usually they are producing fruits or nectar, some kind of food source that’s desirable.

Botanist, Dana Price, says our choice of plants can affect Texas wildlife that depends on them.

16—A lot of them are host plants for our native butterflies and monarchs; some of them are good hummingbird nectar sources. Many of them have berries that are good for birds. Native trees are hosts for all kinds of insects that are in turn food for our native birds.

Native plants also serve us by providing low-maintenance upkeep, even in the harshest conditions—such as the seemingly ever present
heat and drought that afflicts Texas.

07—Our native plants are very well adapted to the climate in Texas, which yes is very extreme a lot of times.We call planting and maintaining native vegetation for wildlife: Wildscaping. The goal: to provide places for birds, small mammals, and other wildlife to feed
and drink, and to escape from predators, as well as raise their young.

Find wildscaping information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.