Rain

We finally got a bit of rain in September! We saw 0.1 inches on the 16th and again on the 23rd. We had 0.3 inches on the 29th for a total of 0.5 inches for the month.

The last time we had rain was June 22nd. It was nice to get even a little bit.

We are now three quarters through the year and unless we receive unprecedented amounts in the last quarter, it's going to be a very bad year. We've received 8.6 inches so far.

Our annual average in this part of Texas is about 30 inches. Last year was wet though, and we received 43.1 inches.

Here are the last few years:

2007 - 28.2 (incomplete, didn't start recording until May)
2008 - 16.4
2009 - 36.7
2010 - 43.1
2011 – 8.6 (three quarters)

Here's the 2011 Monthly Rainfall at our house.

I posted monthly rainfall charts for prior years here.

I'm hearing the drought will continue at least through next year and perhaps longer. A drought has several definitions. The most common one is "a period of below average rainfall".

I try to remind myself that being in a drought doesn't mean that it won't rain, just that it won't rain as much as average. It doesn't help much, especially when the effects are so visible.

Cusp Blazing Star

I took this photo of a Cusp Blazing Star (Liatris mucronata) four years ago, when it was much wetter.

The plant is also known as a Texas Gayfeather. I looked it up at the Wildflower Center and there are many different kinds. From the appearance, I pinned it down to a Cusp Blazing Star, but I could be wrong. It's a member of the Aster family and is a perennial.

The plants were near the house, inside the fence. I've never seen them anywhere else on our property, or anywhere else, for that matter. The Wildflower Center doesn't mention that they're particularly rare, though.

They don't need much water, so hopefully they survived this terrible drought. I know roughly where they were and every time I walk by, I look for them.

These specimens were about 2 feet tall and I don't know if they're a single or multiple plants. They attract butterflies and are certainly very pretty. They would make a great addition to any garden.

My Naturescapes 2011 Photographs

The Naturescapes Exhibition opened at the San Marcos Activity Center last weekend. It runs through November 4th, so please be sure to go by and enjoy the beautiful photographs.

Two of my images were selected by the contest Juror, Amanda Smith, for the exhibition and she picked one of them for an Award of Merit.

Here's the first one, "Mexican Plum Cluster".

Mexican Plum Cluster

It was taken last spring, on the north end of our property, along an old rock wall. The small Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana) tree was covered in white flowers. I meant to make it back later in the spring to see if any plums had developed, but I never did.

I took many shots, but this is the one I thought was best. I like the triangular arrangement of the white blossoms, the simple, bright colors, and the limited depth-of-field makes them fade nicely into the background.
The drought this year meant no flowers and definitely no plums. I'll check it again next spring. I think there are still many good photos left here.

The second one, "Black-eyed Susans", won an Award of Merit.

Black-eyed Susans

This too was taken last spring, when we were still getting signficant amounts of rain. The Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) were all over our property, it seemed. This little meadow was also on the north end of our property, along the rock wall.

I got down on my stomach to get a better vantage. I wanted it to look like the flowers went on forever.

7th Annual Naturescapes Awards Reception

We held the Naturescapes Awards Reception last night at the San Marcos Activity Center.

It was a nice evening with music provided by the band "Friends of Music" and over 100 people attended. The reception opens the Naturescapes Exhibition at the Walkers' Gallery at the Activity Center. This year's Naturescapes is the 100th exhibition at the Activity Center and marks a significant milestone for the Gallery and it's curator, Linda Kelsey-Jones. Congratulations to Linda and many thanks for all her hard work in support of the arts!

I was fortunate to have two photographs selected for the Exhibition by the Contest Juror, Amanda Smith. One of them even won an Award of Merit.

Here's the complete list of Award Winners.

Awards of Merit

• "Lost in Lavender" - Lisa Kay
• "The World is Turning Upside Down" - Abby Linam
• "Full Moon" - Winifred Simon
• "Black-eyed Susans" - Art Arizpe

Awards of Excellence

• "White-Crowned Sparrow - Zonotrichia leucophrys" - Stephen Ramirez
• "Dragonfly Landshark" - Lynny Moore
• "Bee and the Candlestick" - Carolyn Whiteside
• "Water Strider" - Winifred Simon

Best Youth

• "Life Through the Lense" - Hannah Whisenant

Best Natural Habitat

• "Dragonfly Reflection" - Carolyn Whiteside

Best in Show

• "Sculpture by Cypress" - Herb Smith

The Naturescapes Exhbition will be in the Walkers' Gallery until November 4th. Be sure to see it!

I'll post my photos next week and also post a link to all the photographs in the Exhibition when we put them up on the web. Something to look forward to!

A Sunset From Happier Times

I've noticed that with the current drought, the sunsets are not as dramatic as they sometimes are. There is little moisture in the air and that means fewer clouds and fewer opportunities for great sunsets.

I took this photo over three years ago, in March 2008, and just came across it while reviewing my old photos for the blog. The view is from the road out of our development. I was struck by it's beauty and stopped by the side of the road to take a few shots. Sunsets can be overdone, but it's obvious why.

The road, in the lower left, drops off just in front of my vantage point and I like the way the two trees frame the picture. I've adjusted the shadows a bit to bring out a little detail, but not too much. In the original photo, the foreground is completely black. The sun has just dropped below the horizon and the streak of clouds adds a dramatic touch.

It's now September and there's a cool front coming through which will drop the daily highs from around 105 to the low 90s. It's still hot, but I'll take a 10 degree drop.

The trees are continuing to drop their leaves and it looks like an early fall. The amount of daylight is the main cue to trees that the days are getting shorter and fall and winter are approaching. This year the trees are dropping their leaves sooner than normal due to the drought. Hopefully, cooler weather will bring some rain.

The Drought Continues

We recently broke the record for number of consecutive days with high temperatures above 100 degrees. We're currently at 73 days but the forecasts say it may break in four days. We've had no rainfall at our house since June 22 and I'm worried about the impact on the plants and wildlife.

The grass has been brown for several months now and that's not really unusual, but the trees are starting to show signs of stress. Their leaves are turning brown and dropping. Trees lose quite a bit of moisture through their leaves through the process of transpiration. A fully-grown tree may lose several hundred gallons of water in a day. The trees minimize this loss by dropping their leaves and entering a dormant state.

I've noticed that the smaller trees are the ones turning brown, so they may be more susceptible to the water loss and stress.

There is no way for us to water all the trees so they're going to have to make it on their own. On the other hand, they've been out here for hundreds of years and have seen worse drought conditions, so they'll probably be fine.

Here's a photo of a grove of live oaks. The taller ones are still green but the small ones in front are not.

 Here's another one showing the same effect.

This is a photograph along our driveway in which the trees don't show much signs of stress. I think much depends on the soil and the general health of the trees.

The grass and trees are very visible signs of the heat and drought. They remind me though that many of the effects are not so easily seen. The wildlife especially has to cope with the lack of water too. The deer especially seem thin right now. I hope they make it.

Edible and Useful Plants

I was given a wonderful book as a gift a few months ago by my son and daughter-in-law. They hear me talking about my Master Naturalist adventures and also follow the blog, so they knew this one would interest me.

The book is "Edible and Useful Plants of  Texas and the Southwest" by Delena Tull. Ms. Tull is an environmental science educator and naturalist who lived in central Texas for twenty years and earned her Ph.D. in science education form the University of Texas in Austin.

The book was originally published in 1987 and was updated in 1999. It's in paperback, with about 500 pages, and has many plant illustrations and photographs.

She divides the book into seven sections:

1. Edible and useful wild plants
2. Teas and spices
3. Edible and poisonous berries and other fleshy fruits
4. Poisonous and harmful plants
5. Colorful dyes with Texas plants
6. Fibers from Texas plants
7. Rubber, Wax, Oil, and Soap: Industrial resources from Texas plants

In a brief introduction she discusses the vegetation regions in the state, the problems of using plants as medicine, and the dangers of trying mushrooms. The main problems with plants as medicine is the variability of the effect from plant to plant because of varying growing conditions and life history of the plant. You're never sure of the dose.

In each section she includes many warning about the dangers inherent in sampling native plants: poisoning, allergic reactions, etc. Nonetheless, there are many plants and fruits are quite safe to eat - the challenge is in making sure you've identified them correctly. She includes the history of usage, going back to Native Americans, and many recipes. There is much useful knowledge and folklore which we've lost in modern times.

I never considered the possibility of using dyes from native plants, although I knew the wood of agaritas (Mahonia trifoliolata) is a bright yellow on the inside and that the cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) insect found on prickly pears (Opuntia sp.) is bright red when crushed. I found that section quite educational and she has many procedures listed for creating dyes.

The other interesting part was in the last section of industrial resources from Texas plants. Did you know there are at least two plants in Texas which are a source  of rubber? They became important during both World Wars, when imported rubber was scarce, but commercial interest has since died off.

I doubt I'll ever be able to "live off the land", although that concept fascinates me. This book will help me find snacks, though, as I hike up and down the Hill Country.