Features

A lifetime of gardening and numerous awards have not dimmed Linda Keese’s passion for plants and curiosity about their environment. In Hays County, Linda helped set up the Master Gardener program in 1991 and in 1998, organize a Master Naturalist chapter. Both interests inspired her to earn a Level 4 certificate (landscaping with native plants) from the Native Plant Society of Texas and underlined her dual interests of life-long learning and mentoring anyone interested in growing a habitat for wildlife.

Stop the presses, throw all of your preconceived notions about the monarda or bee balm out the door. I swear, I have had marigolds taller than these new monardas. I have more flowers now on my monardas than I normally get from an entire season’s bloom. I am talking about the Leading Lady series.

Leslie Lewis Sigler paints connections. Through her highly-detailed oil paintings of silver antiques, Sigler traces an object’s history as well its connection to the present day, each so painstakingly rendered, it appears to be high-quality photographs of careworn heirlooms.

If there were a color that represents happiness in the garden it would have to be yellow. One of the three primary colors, it has the power to evoke hope and excitement. When the forsythia breaks forth in the early spring, it not only catches your eye but also invigorates your step. Winter is over and a new season has been born.

As we start a new month, we thought it might be a good time to show the recycling rates for some items in North-Central Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth area. Unfortunately, we don’t have any such stats for our local area).

Q. What is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, and why is it celebrated in May?

Maurice T. Suttles VFW Post 3413 Commander Stephanie Brown named Elizabeth D. Salmon as first place winner of the 2020-2021 Voice of Democracy with the theme “Is This the Country the Founders Envisioned?” Salmon advanced to District level. Second and Third place winner were Emma E. Hargraves and Arianna V. Torres

My journey this week brings me to Cinco de Mayo. My attention focuses on the culture and heritage of local Spanish-speaking families, especially the older generation who traveled to West Texas as migrants where the labor from their hands and backs pulled cotton in the fall.

One of the best feel-good stories I know of concerns an aging albatross on a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean.

After more than a year of no in-person classes, the Price Center is welcoming back three of its healthy living programs beginning next month. Easy Tai Chi, Zumba Gold and SMTX Yoga will begin meeting in person again at the center, with limited schedules and COVID-safe precautions in place, on May 3, 4 and 11, respectively. Additional dance classes and arts workshops sponsored by the Price Center are slated to return later in the year.