Port O’ Connor Bunco

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

6:30 PM

POC Community Center

$5.00 to play

All Ladies welcome!!

It’s that time of year again! Spring! The land reawakens from the dormancy of winter and new growth bursts forth. This is the perfect time to bring new greenery into your own gardens and yards! There are many reasons why and how we plan our landscaping, but I propose that you go “wild” this year. Wildscaping that is!

My Gulf Coast Bird Observatory colleague wrote a previous article talking about how you can make your gardens more friendly to birds and other wildlife through the use of native plants and other features. Now, I would like to narrow in on the native plant side of this proposal.

Wildscaping is a hybrid of horticulture and ecology, meaning a garden that imitates aspects of the native eco-system and translates them into an urban setting. Thus, the great thing about wildscaping is its versatility. It can be as simple as having a few potted nectar plants on a porch, or as complex as landscaping your entire yard with many varieties of pollen, nectar, and leaf food sources.

Besides attracting and supporting native wildlife, wildscaping has the added benefits of reducing the need for water and artificial fertilizer. This results in lower water bills and costs for yard maintenance. Plants native to our portion of Texas have adapted to the timing of the seasons, harshness of the weather, and water availability we experience. They have a high tolerance for poor soil and are more likely to survive the environmental extremes of our area without the need for additional protection. Native plants are also typically adapted to surviving local pests and, therefore, do not need chemical pesticides.

When designing your wildscape, there is a large variety of native plants from which to choose. By adding a range of native plants, you can ensure there is something blooming throughout every season to provide for wildlife year-round. In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes incorporated into a wildscape also helps support a wide variety of wildlife.

An excellent one-stop shop for all of your native plant needs is the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory native plant nursery! The nursery is a self-guided retail space and plant propagation area, emphasizing local native and other naturalized plants useful for wildscaping. The nursery is volunteer-run and friends of GCBO are encouraged to help by bringing in seeds or plants which may be worthy of propagation.

The unique and ever-evolving inventory of the GCBO plant nursery gives visitors a wide variety of plants to choose from. Unique offerings vary, but may include many of the local pollinator-supporting plants such as Blue Mistflower, Swamp Sunflower, Tropical Sage, and native Hibiscus species. Woodland or shade-tolerant wildflowers such as Turk’s Cap, Heartleaf Skullcap, and Gulf Coast Penstemon may also be found here. We include many flowering understory trees such as Cherry Laurel, Persimmon, and hawthorns, along with canopy trees such as Live Oaks. Other offerings include Common Snowdrop, Scarlet Freesia, Virginia Creeper, Wood Ferns, Blue Iris, Mesquite Trees, Seaside Goldenrod, and Brazoria Palms.

GCBO specialties include many rare and unusual varieties of Turk’s Cap and Porterweed found nowhere else. Look for our locally developed hybrids denotated as “Bayou …” in honor of the adjacent Buffalo Camp Bayou. We encourage you to take a look around the native plant nursery, on your next visit to GCBO, for unique species you may want to incorporate into your own backyard.

Photo: Blue Mistflower Credit: GCBO

Photo: GCBO Native Plant Nursery Credit: GCBO

This story is fictional, but based on scripture found in 2 Chronicles 1:13-17, 2 Chronicles 9:25, Psalm 20:7, and Psalm 33:17-20

Yasha is Hebrew and means: “to save, deliver, rescue, or to be victorious”. 

Once the military unit and the horses had made it back to Jerusalem, Jacob made his request known to his commander. The commander replied that he would see what he could do. The next day, Jacob was going about his duties when he received a message letting him know that he was placed in charge of training the horse in stall 3,089. Jacob knew they had a long road ahead of them, but he was looking forward to it. It had already been a week since Jacob had started training the horse that he had named Yasha. Understandably, the first day was rough. Jacob’s job was to start breaking Yasha. Jacob took Yasha to the training pool situated on the Israeli military grounds, specifically made for breaking horses. There was a fence made of tall wooden poles staked in the ground that enclosed the pool, keeping the horses from getting out of the water. Jacob closed the gate, while holding on to Yasha’s reigns, and they waded in. Yasha acted skittish at the beginning, but quickly became used to it. Jacob positioned Yasha on a slope so that it was easier to leap on his back. Jacob was lithe and without warning, he jumped on top of Yasha, swinging his leg over almost at the same time. Immediately, Yasha’s temperament changed, and he went wild. However, since they were in water, all Yasha could really do was slosh around. He trotted as best he could through the water trying to throw his back into the air and buck Jacob off. He didn’t make any headway, though, and Jacob easily stayed seated. After a bit, Yasha was tired and at the end of an hour, he was exhausted. So, Jacob dismounted and led Yasha back to the stables. Jacob’s plan was to bring Yasha to the pool every day for a week. Then, at the end of the week, Jacob would let Yasha out of the round corral and see how he did. Jacob was expecting Yasha to be fully broke by that time. However, this was a stallion and not just any stallion at that, this was Yasha. The fierce determined unbroken spirit that belonged to Yasha was unlike anything Jacob had ever dealt with before. Unless Jacob was counting himself and he wasn’t.

The next day, Jacob brought Yasha to the training pool and hopped on his back as he had done the day before. This time, Yasha barely tried to kick his heels and at the end of the appointed hour, Jacob was pleased with Yasha’s progress. The days passed quickly. Suddenly, it was the end of the week, Yasha’s moment of truth. Jacob started riding Yasha in the pool for the full hour before he steered Yasha over to the gate and opened it. The gate swung wide open, and Yasha carefully stepped out. Slowly, Yasha did as Jacob commanded and walked out of the corral. Jacob directed Yasha to walk around the square a few times and then, steered him back towards the stable. All along, Yasha was subservient and not once did he try to buck Jacob off. After they made it back, Jacob dismounted and rewarded Yasha by giving him double the oats he normally would. As Yasha enjoyed his oats, Jacob rubbed him down really well. Jacob was brushing Yasha’s neck when Yasha’s head came up and he turned to look back at Jacob. “What is it Yasha?”, Jacob gently asked. Yasha stayed transfixed and just stared at Jacob. So, Jacob slowly stepped closer to Yasha and gently reached out, taking Yasha’s great big face in his hands. Then, he fluidly bent his head down until his forehead touched Yasha’s. They both stared into each other’s eyes, studying one another and trying to determine the other’s thoughts. This was Jacob’s battle partner, and he needed to know that Yasha had his back. Jacob looked long and hard. His life could depend on it. Satisfied with his findings, Jacob backed away slowly. In one look, Jacob saw that Yasha had a loyal heart, was brave, and strong. Yasha was not only physically strong, but mentally strong as well. Yes, Jacob thought, he could depend on him, of that he was sure.

Stay tuned for part three…