March Meeting:

Members and guest met at the National Wildflower Research Center last March 21. It is truly a fantastic place. If you did not go with us, please take your family and friends to see it. The architecture is magnificent. Not since your grandmother lived on a farm have people in these parts harvested water. Since we usually eat and meet in that order, I was rather disappointed upon arrival. I was impressed with the place, but where was the food tray. I started to look at the labels on the plants; maybe there's some berries or nuts. The Bauhinia didn't even have a leaf. There was Square-Bud Primrose, but where would the primrose lane lead me? The Texas Bluebell is definitely low cal and maybe no cal. The Winecup didn't have enough leaves for a thimble. The Prairie Verbena was pretty, but I bet it would take more calories to eat and digest it than you would gain. The Big Red Sage did look like spinach. The Bitterweed had nice yellow flowers, but I'm into sweets. The Yarrow would definitely tickle. The Pavonia only blooms in the fall. If I see Golden Groundsel in my yard, my wife will definitely ask me to pull it out. The Frog Fruit looks a bit stringy. I had just about worked up a real appetite when Pam Nickelson started the tour.

Our beautiful host introduced Jeff Russell, the architect, and Bob Anderson the landscape designer. The three of them were very proud of what they had accomplished. We were all impressed. Rainwater from most of the buildings is collected into several cisterns. The intent is to provide all the drip irrigation needs for the Center. They too are waiting for the rains. Their water harvesting system is the largest in North America. During construction, they used six miles of fencing to protect the existing veggies. (I'm still thinking about food.) They moved about 70,000 plants from their old location and it was done with mostly volunteer labor. We cruised by the Wildflower Cafe, but it closed at 4pm. They invited everyone to come for lunch and you wouldn't have to pay the entrance fee. They also provide rooms for meetings, receptions and weddings. The cost varies from about $250 to $600.

At the end of the tour, there was food from the Green Pastures restaurant. The shrimp had a very zany flavor that couldn't be satisfied. Just before the meeting ended, I glanced at some of the periodicals in the library. Just as you would expect, they had the magazines: Audubon, Buzzworm, American Nurseryman, American Horticulturist, American Farmland, Agro Forestry Today, Country Life, and The Earth Times. See you next month.

By J. Robert Howard