We had a wonderful group turn out for the orchid walk on July 28.  About three dozen people, from Dallas-Ft Worth area to Louisiana to Houston, braved the southeast Texas heat and humidity to search for the rare Chapman’s orchid, Platanthera chapmanii. We were not disappointed.

Our thanks and our sympathy go to Joe Liggio, who led the walk that day.  A few days earlier, Joe’s mother passed away.  We certainly would have understood if he had canceled.  However, he…

This first time I saw the Watson Rare Native Plant Preserve was in August.  Although it was a typical upper Gulf Coast summer day, I was extremely happy to brave the heat and humidity, for a field of Liatris pycnostachya was in bloom and the breath-takingly beautiful flowers were swarming with butterflies: many of them showy swallowtails such as the black swallow tail, the palemedes, giant swallowtail, tiger swallowtail....  My second summer visit came in July, when the rare Chapman Orchid…