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thanks to our friends in temple for sharing their garden with us right now
we're going to be talking about wild flower planting and habitat planting
if you will
for migrating species and for water conservation I'm joined by Bill Neiman
from
Native American seed it's great to have you back on Central Texas gardener
it is a very good pleasure to be back thank you Tom well Native American seed is one
of the primary purveyors they have so many different native plant seeds here in
Central Texas
not just in Central Texas but you're actually probably in the nation right
now
well the southern plains for sure and actually some even into northern Mexico
alright so you you are providing what I think is probably a pretty hot
commodity right now
well I guess every time they pour another yard of concrete
there are others that realize the value
what's being lost and the need to put it back like it was
right will put it back like it was is critically important these days because
these are species that are
habituated or are used to
the kind of drought experience that Texas is going through right now
yes I kinda we havent used the word yet but I might as well get started
is called prairie
and they're really- prairies evolved with drought and
and it's a it's a co-mingling of grass
fire drought and cloven hoofed animals that made the prarie work
and there are
historic records that go back to that show these droughts in fact the times
that we're in now are actually more normal
there's some research now coming to light that shows about the last forty
or fifty or sixty years was actually abnormally wet
and people like you and I who grew up thinking that that was normal
are really being awakened to the to the reality that
this is a prairie and the prairies have evolved with drought
and perhaps what we thought who was normal
was actually abnormal right right
and that perhaps we are in a more
normal climate as far as rainfall goes it's pretty uh,
there's a lot of history that says that long extended periods of drought have been here
before
all right well thats sobering to say the least but
the work that you have a an answer for that when you talk about prarie and prairie
restoration because you have been doing this for four decades now
this is our twenty-fifth year and you've developed how many different kinds of seed
mixes?
well we have thirty mixtures some of them as many as fifty two species
that are specific
to solve ecological problems right and
many of our mixtures with we feel are actually
ecosystem in a bag from when you saw
all the fires for example in 2011 we developed two
scorched-earth recovery mixes one
for an eastern one perfect for Basdrop
one for the southeast areas and then west of 35
the scorched earth recovery mix so
these are species that are
a wide range of conditions from caliche to
bottomland soils they are short
annual wild flowers that take advantage of any kind of disturbance on the
soil that would rapidly recover
and re vegetate the land and also a mixture of
deep rooted warm-season perennials annuals
perennials warm season and cool season
and so this is the approach that I have found to be the most successful
and in particular with the subject at hand with the
with the butterflies right but not only just butterflies but all of life
is all about a holistic approach and
the understanding that the intermingling of the
relationships of the plants
to that animals and even to us the human right well
you talk with the mixtures seeds in it and the deeper root in some of these
I think it's striking just don't believe one space like liatris
which is a
premire fall wild flowers for the state of Texas
especially in the balconies escarpment area they can have roots 20 feet deep
these are healing plants they are survivor plants and they
are
healing plants a I have a little quick story about the
liatris that's unbelievable but these plants will find their way they're
wind born seeds and they blow in the wind
but they find a disturbed ruin piece of lant
and that's where they wanna root up
in some of the harshest conditions some times in fact if it's a really rich lush
moist soil area they don't do very well at all
they will rot but these are very long-lived almost prehistoric
looking bulbs if you ever dig one out
and in our farming operation we have rows and rows but
a as the years go by some of them actually die out
maybe we care for them too much or maybe they just burn out
but this bulb become hollowed
and it's real fibrous on the inside and
mice will come and burrow and make a nest in there in the winter time
and bring seeds of native grasses
into that nest
that is how I'm talking about where you look
at the system as a holistic approach oh that's beautiful
and now this is the time of year for a lot of folks here in Central Texas to be
thinking about seeding
so again you've got mixes for just about every different kinds of situations sun shade
East of I 35 and deep clay soils or in the calichi all those different things
there
what what you recommend to people in terms of prepping
their sites well the seeds have to touch the earth
and so you cant just the cast them out there on top a bunch of dried straw or
leaf
material and or if the soil is really heavily crested over or compact
the seeds will just lay on top and then the first wind or rain will just blow them
away
so the soil crust needs to be
made somewhat fryable and the seeds need to be able to touch that
earth and
the rule of thumb is to plant the seed
two times the diameter of the seed is how deep you plant it
okay you take like a lemon mint seed that is the diameter
this 0.5 millimeter
pencil lead and you put it two times that deep
okay alright so in other words on the surface
and then just press it down okay got you
now one of the reasons why we're talking today and
encouraging people to take this approach is because
the species in these habitats that you create are so beneficial to migratory
species including the butterflies
and they provide not just food but cover lots of other things right?
yes, yeah sometimes
I get a little bit
I guess what I want to say is
that if a person can only focus on a blooming flower and a
butterfly landing on it they're missing the point that
that is a a moment in time but the butterfly is alive
and the plant is alive in both of them are changing and their needs are various
and great
so the butterfly needs a place to hide to sleep
it needs food it needs a place for nesting
or to raise its young mmm-hmm and when the young hatch
they need a certain kind of protection and food
so this is where if you can think in terms of
rebuilding a habitat instead of planting a specific species
instead build a colony or like a little pocket prairie
that could provide a lot of
needs for the various species right well I love the
bigger picture that you're you're trying to get people to focus on because
its the butterfly in the plants are interdependent in many different ways
and one of the cool things that I've noted in your products now is
that you have the specific blends of
things so there's sustain the migration kit specifically for butterflies and
for monarchs and then you have a butterfly retreat mix now how would those two
be
different well let's take the sustain a migration kit and it is a blend
of three different individual milkweeds and that is for the person that is yes
really focused on the issue
and in fact that little kit contains what is required to do a cold
stratification
there's actually vermiculite in the instructions
and some some neoprene rubber gloves so that you can go through the
whole motion's and cold stratify
those seeds and now let's talk a brief second about that
for the fall planting the could put the seed out without going through all
those motions and let the wintertime
cold stratified them and they would sprout next spring
the butterfly retreat is numerous species
perennials and annuals that provide all of those very assistants that I mentioned
okay and things like the frost weed gay feather and all these other things
all those beautiful species
well the the it's just terrific work that you're doing and I know that
you have created a place out there were people can come and visit as well
Native American seed youre located in junction Texas
and people can also find are you online and your catalog I have to say
is an amazing resource well thank you
we produce two of those per year this is our twenty-fifth year
so our 50th production is underway right now on this catalog
alright Bill it's a real pleasure to be with you thank you for the work
that you're doing for all of us
thank you for spreading the word and coming up next our friend
Daphne
