Featured
Article
American White Pelicans
Have
you seen the white pelicans that are visiting our lake?
Breeding
on lakes throughout the northern Great Plains and mountain
West, the American White Pelican is one of the largest birds
in North America. It winters along the coasts, but breeds
only inland.
|
Pelicans
in a circle
|
Cool
Facts
• The White Pelican does not dive for fish as the
Brown Pelican does. Instead, it dips its head underwater
to scoop up fish. Several pelicans may fish cooperatively,
moving into a circle to concentrate fish, and then dipping
their heads under simultaneously to catch fish.
Credits
• Evans, R. M. and F. L. Knopf. 1993. American White
Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). In The Birds of North
America, No. 57 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia:
The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American
Ornithologists¿ Union.
©
William L. Newton / CLO
(edited for length)
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Upcoming Events:
A
Nanny Goat Invitational Golf Tournament
March
23 - Rain Date March 30
<View
Our Flyer>
Member/Guest Tournament
April
24-rain date May 1
Sign
up at the Golf Club today
Blue
Lake/Deerhaven Ladies Luncheon
May
7
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Recipes
Blue
Lake residents are great cooks!
Green
Chile Stew
2 lbs. stew meat 2 tsp. crushed oregano
1 Tbl. Oil 1 tsp. ground. Cumin
6 Cloves garlic, minced 3 cubed potatoes
1 can beef broth 2 (4 oz.) cans diced chili *
1 can beer 1 Large Onion, chopped
1 can green enchilada Sauce ½ Tbl. Cilantro
*Use your New Mexico chilies instead of the canned ones
if you have them.
Compliments
of C.L. Newsome
<Email your recipes
to SueBurkhalter@nctv.com>
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Hill
Country Activities
Hill
Country Books and Others Online
<www.hillcountrycurrent.com/bookshelf/>
Bald
Eagles plus their eaglets have made their home on Hwy 29
between Llano and Kingsland
Lake
Buchanan Adventures: Kayak trips on Lake Buchanan at Canyon
of the Eagles Nature Park, east Lake Buchanan. 512-756-9911
Texas
Country Magazine has lots of Hill Country info at a great
price
<www.hillcountrymagazine.com>
Hill
Country Theater
has a new show starting in February.
<www.hcct.org>
Llano
Opry - great music in a fun setting
<www.hillbillyhits.com/llanoopry>
Hill Country
Trekkers-group hikes in the hill country
<hctrekkers@yahoo.com>
Email
your favorite Hill Country spots with their website to:
SueBurkhalter@nctv.com
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Home
Care Tips
Deer
Resistant Spring Blooming Bulbs
Spring Bulbs That Will Survive the Deer (and some rodents)
By Marie Iannotti, About.com Guide
It's heartbreaking enough to put a plant in the garden,
only to find it eaten to the ground the next day. But waiting
all winter for your spring bulbs to bloom and then loosing
them to deer is utterly frustrating. Tulips are wonderful,
but they are also deer candy. If you must have tulips, treat
them with a repellent, preferably a systemic repellent.
Even then, the deer will try a bite or two until they realize
that your tulips taste bad.
If you are plagued by deer browsing, consider spring bulbs
that are less tempting to deer. We all know that deer don't
like daffodils, but that doesn't mean your spring bulb garden
has to be a swath of yellow. There are several other bulbs
that deer tend to avoid. Of course I can't make any promised
that the squirrels and armadillos won't dig them up, but
that's another problem.
Deer
Resistant Spring and Early Summer Flowering Bulbs
ALLIUM
Ornamental onions are among the most deer resistant flowering
bulbs. The most commonly know alliums have pom pom like
blossoms on top of single, straight stalks. There is, however,
a fair amount of variation in the species. Allium schubertii
looks like a fireworks sparkler. Others, like Allium unifolium
and Allium bulgaricum are bell shaped. You can find alliums
in almost every color and height and their bloom times vary
throughout the season. Allium are also rodent resistant.
• Height: Varies (4" - 4')
• Bloom Time: Late Spring - Early Summer
• Exposure: Full Sun
• Zones: 4 - 9
CROCUS
The bright colors of crocus are a welcome sign that the
soil is starting to warm. Crocus will even bloom in the
snow. This versatile little spreader can be used as a ground
cover or as an accent. Plant a few by your mail box to make
the walk down to collect your mail worth it.
• Height: 4"
• Bloom Time: Early Spring
• Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
• Zones 3 - 9
DWARF IRIS ( Iris reticulata
)
You get the familiar iris flower on a low growing, spreading
plant that blooms early in the season. What's not to like.
You can find Iris reticulata in blues, purples and white.
They all blend extremely well with other spring bloomers.
• Height: 4 - 6"
• Bloom Time: Early Spring
• Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
• Zones: 5 - 9
EARLY STARDRIFT (Puschkinia
libanotica)
Another of Spring's blue offerings, this time in a pastel
powder blue. Puschkinia makes a nice addition to the borer,
but it also works well when allowed to naturalize and spread.
• Height: 4 - 6"
• Bloom Time: Early Spring
• Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade
• Zones 3 - 7
Fritillaria
Fritillaria add a touch of drama to your spring garden.
From the dramatic, loud colors of 'Crown Imperial', to the
speckles of 'Guinea Hens' (Fritillaria meleagris ), the
deep purple of Fritillaria persica, the bi-colors and the
creamy white 'Ivory Bells", Fritillaria will be noticed.
They look exotic, but they are fuss-free, easy growers.
Fritillaria are also rodent resistant.
• Height: Varies (10 - 24")
• Bloom Time: Mid-Spring
• Exposure: Full Sun to Shade
• Zones: 4 - 9
GLORY
OF THE SNOW
(Chinodoxa forbesii )
Similar to Scilla siberica, Glory of the Snow works best
as a ground cover or naturalized in the lawn. Each bulbs
provides multiple blue, star-shaped blossoms with white
centers, that start to bloom as the snow is melting.
• Height: 4 - 8 "
• Bloom Time: Early Spring
• Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
• Zones: 3 - 9
GRAPE
HYACINTH
(Muscari)
Sweet fragrance and a brilliant blue color have made Grape
Hyacinth long standing favorites. This is the perfect little
bulb for massing under trees that haven't yet leafed out.
And it doesn't take many bulbs to rapidly spreading to a
mass planting.
•Height: 4 - 7"
•Bloom Time: Mid-Spring
•Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
•Zones: 3 - 9
*We are located in located in zone 8.
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