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By Robert Burns
Texas AgriLife Extension Service

Grandma's Yellow is not the perfect yellow rose, but your grandmother might say it's 'mighty dang near close,' according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service horticulturists.

Grandma's Yellow rose is the newest Texas Superstar selection, one of five that will be announced for 2010, said Dr. Larry Stein, AgriLife Extension horticulturist and one of the developers of Grandma's Yellow rose.

AgriLife Extension and Texas AgriLife Researchers extensively test and designate plants as Texas Superstars that are not just beautiful but perform well for Texas consumers and growers.

Stein and his fellow horticulturists named the new Texas Superstar in honor of Stein's grandmother, Tillie Jungman, who loved the yellow rose and helped grow test varieties in her garden near Castroville, Stein said.

Stein noted the name 'Grandma' has other connotations in addition to his grandmother helping test the plant. The new Texas Superstar is tough yet beautiful, self-sufficient on its own root stock, and low-maintenance, requiring little intervention except some occasional tender loving care, which is a lot like how his grandmother Tillie was, Stein said.

"This is a rose which does not need constant spraying to survive and produce lovely yellow Valentine-like blooms," Stein said, becoming more serious. "It produces successive flushes of blooms — from spring until frost — and is so disease tolerant that fungicide sprays are seldom required. However in wet, high-pressure disease years, fungicide sprays will be needed to keep black spot in check. It is an outstanding performer even in highly alkaline clay soils."

And though it has a lot in common with antique roses, including growing on its own root stock, Grandma's Yellow rose produces large, modern "Valentine's Day" blooms, he said. And like most people's grandmothers, the rose has a rich, interesting history.

"Valentine's Day" bloom is a rosarian term for long-stemmed, cutting roses, typical of the type favored as Valentine's Day gifts, Stein said.

A team comprised of Stein; Jerry Parsons, retired professor and AgriLife Extension horticulturist; and Greg Grant, horticulturist with Stephen F. Austin State University, former AgriLife Extension horticulturist in Bexar County, and Texas Gardener columnist, began looking for a better yellow rose in 1996. In addition to aesthetic value and good performance, they wanted a plant that was both easy to take care of and to root and otherwise propagate, Stein said.

"There are a lot of yellow roses on the market, but most you have to spray every week or so to really make them do well," he said.

"One of the main elements of being made a Texas SuperStar is it must be able to be propagated and mass-produced in sufficient numbers to meet the increased consumer demand generated," he said. Grandma’s Yellow is readily propagated.

The team looked for yellow roses that had lived a long time in the area where they were found. Five candidates were identified and were given names for where they were discovered. One group was found near Sabinal, which is northeast of Uvalde. Another series was identified near Seguin, east of San Antonio. A third candidate came from Somerville, Tenn. The fourth series came from Nacogdoches, where one plant was found blooming near an abandoned motel. And the fifth was found off a street named Brady in southwest San Antonio, Stein said.

The Brady and Seguin roses were almost identical in color and fragrance but Seguin was very difficult to root, and was one of the first to be rejected, he said.

The other roses were ruled out, one by one, for various reasons. The Nacogdoches roses showed the most promise, and the selections were eventually weeded down to a few varieties, which were tested in Miss Tillie's garden for four years, from 1999-2003, with attention to disease resistance. The results were encouraging, as Stein and his team partners remarked in their official report. Even when red roses in the garden were completely defoliated with black spot fungus disease, the Nacogdoches yellow roses were clean.

"We put this test plot in of six plants of Nacogdoches, and there was one plant that was different which ended up being Grandma's Yellow," Stein said. "So it either sported or mutated for us to get this plant that was even better than any of the original Nacogdoches (plants). It was just one of those things that happen in nature."

It was after Miss Tillie died in late November 2005, the name Nacogdoches was changed to Grandma’s Yellow. At the funeral, her pallbearers each wore a yellow rose bud in their lapels, Stein said.

More information on the history and characteristics of Grandma's Yellow rose can be found online at http://plantanswers.com/grandmas_yellow_rose07.htm.

Texas Superstar is a registered trademark owned by Texas AgriLife Research.

By Buddy Gough
The Nature Conservancy of Texas

The invasive tamarisk tree is of particular concern to Texans because of the harmful species’ ability to destroy critically important riparian zones along rivers and streams.

“It’s totally a game-changer for riparian habitats and the species dependent on them,” says Dr. Jim Bergan, the Conservancy’s director of science and stewardship in Texas.

Referring to the bushy tree by its more common name of “salt cedar,” Bergan said the invasion of tamarisk—originally imported from the Mediterranean as an ornamental — is especially problematic along rivers in drier regions, where riparian zones are more fragile.

“It’s really problematic along the Pecos River and in stretches along the entire length of the Rio Grande,” Bergan noted, adding that salt cedar continues to spread, showing up in diverse locations ranging from the Hill Country to spoil islands in coastal bays.

Salt does its damage in two ways. Since it absorbs salt, its leaf litter make the ground too acidic for the growth of native plants such as cottonwoods and willows. The tamarisk is also a very thirsty tree, with dense stands capable of depleting water tables and lowering stream flows.

Tamarisk is far from just a Texas problem, though — the plant has spread across an estimated 1.6 million acres of river corridor throughout the western United States.

Unfortunately, eradication of salt cedar is labor intensive and expensive. Each tree must be cut low to the ground and the stump painted with special herbicides to prevent regeneration.

The magnitude the problem was exemplified in Colorado, where the Conservancy spearheaded an effort to eradicate salt cedars along 120 miles of the San Miguel River that pours out of the mountains near Telluride.

That effort took eight years, cost $1.3 million and involved the participation of local, state and federal agencies along with the help of countless volunteers.

A method of biocontrol that holds promise is an Asian insect known as the tamarisk leaf beetle. After years of research on the beetles’ potential for controlling salt cedars, tens of thousands of the insects have been released along infested rivers throughout the West.

If the beetles prove to be able to do the job, they should be welcome in Texas. In the meantime, landowners in riparian areas are urged to maintain a vigilant watch for the appearance of this true Texas nuisance.

For more information about The Nature Conservancy's work in Texas, including other invasive species we help to control, visit nature.org/texas.

When storing garlic bulbs, knock off any soil and braid the stems to form a rope of garlic bulbs. Hang them in a cool, dry shed or porch for later use. They can be stored for several months this way. Try cooking some fresh on the barbeque pit — just wrap them in foil along with a few drops of olive oil. When done, squeeze the contents out of its papery shell onto some fresh bread or toast to enjoy.

Have a favorite gardening tip you’d like to share? Texas Gardener’s Seeds is seeking brief gardening tips from Texas gardeners to use in future issues. If we publish your tip in Seeds, we will send you a free copy of Texas Gardener's 2010 Planning Guide & Calendar. Please send your tips of 50 words or less to the editor at: Gardening Tips.

This attractive plant was found growing at a commercial mall near Waco by a local landscape contractor. According to Greg Grant, it is Sesbania punicea, a plant from South America that has naturalized in Texas. Also called rattle box, this attractive perennial is considered an invasive plant and should not be propagated.

Note: an "invasive species" is defined as a species that is non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.

Order by calling 1-800-727-9020 or order on-line.

(Discover, MasterCard and Visa accepted.)

By Kelly Conrad Bender

NEW EDITION of the popular Texas Parks & Wildlife book, now with fully searchable DVD containing all the plant and animal information you need to customizTexas Wildscapes program provides the tools you need to make ahome for all the animals that will thrive in the native habitat you create.

In Texas Wildscapes, Kelly Conrad Bender identifies the kinds of animals you can expect when you give them their three basic needs: food, water, and shelter. She then provides guidelines for designing and planting your yard or garden to best provide these requirements for the many birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates the environment will attract.

$31.88 includes tax and shipping

Order online with credit card at www.texasgardener.com or call toll-free 1-800-727-9020.

Visa, MasterCard and Discover accepted.

Doug Welsh’s Texas Garden Almanac is a giant monthly calendar for the entire state — a practical, information-packed, month-by-month guide for gardeners and "yardeners." This book provides everything you need to know about flowers and garden design; trees, shrubs, and vines; lawns; vegetable, herb, and fruit gardening; and soil, mulch, water, pests, and plant care. It will help you to create beautiful, productive, healthy gardens and have fun doing it.

$26.63 plus shipping*

Order by calling 1-800-727-9020 or order on-line.

*Mention Texas Gardener’s Seeds when ordering by phone and we’ll waive shipping charges. (Discover, MasterCard and Visa accepted.)

Grow-Web encourages plant growth and development, and also provides protection from insects, birds, diseases and frosts. It is also air and water permeable and allows for ventilation. Grow-Web provides excellent protection to seedlings when applied directly to the seedbed.

$30.64 per 12.3’ x 32.8’ roll (includes shipping!)

Order by calling 1-800-727-9020 or order on-line.

(Discover, MasterCard and Visa accepted.)

Texas Gardener’s Seeds is published weekly. © Suntex Communications, Inc. 2010. All rights reserved. You may forward this publication to your friends and colleagues if it is sent in its entirety. No individual part of this newsletter may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher.

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Publisher: Chris S. Corby ● Editor: Michael Bracken

Texas Gardener’s Seeds, P.O. Box 9005, Waco, Texas 76714 ● www.TexasGardener.com