We've added several new items to the show blog. Members can access them by clicking here.

Also new show archives have been added. Everyone can access them by clicking here.

We've added several new items to the show blog. Members can access them by clicking here.

Strong Medicine: What's Ailing the FDA?
By Alexis Jetter
From Reader's Digest
April 2008

Crisis in the FDA
Recent headlines have uncovered one shocking lapse after another at the Food and Drug Administration: A popular diabetes drug can sharply increase the risk of heart attack, a finding the agency knew but took two years to reveal. An FDA-approved antibiotic can destroy your liver in just five days. And despite mounting concerns about the safety of Chinese-made drugs, the agency had only enough field inspectors last year to check a mere 13 of the 714 Chinese factories that produce medicines for U.S. consumers.

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Be sure to check the calendar regularly for information on upcoming natural events and opportunities to meet John & John.

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The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved $4.7 million in bond funds to be used to finish a construction project at Texas Discovery Gardens. The approval brings about the revitalization of the Metamorphosis Capital Campaign, which was created to raise money for a conservatory and Grand Hall renovation.

Construction will resume in March 2008 by Phoenix I Restoration and Construction, Ltd., and will include a revitalized conservatory, classroom, lobby space, stairs and elevator, front desk and office space. The conservatory will complete its metamorphosis into the Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium, a year-round attraction filled with more than 100 species of free-flying tropical butterflies. Visitors will enter onto the second floor, eye level with tree tops. Encompassing more than 230,000 cubic feet, the Sammons Butterfly House will be one of the largest year-round live butterfly exhibits in the world. The Sammons Butterfly House is funded by the Rosine Foundation Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas.

Another exciting addition will be the Discovery Children’s Classroom, an interactive space for students to take research inside with microscopes, slides, computers and scientific equipment. The classroom will also serve as a space for adult workshops, allowing the Gardens to expand its list of weekend programming.

Texas Discovery Gardens is scheduled to complete construction and unveil the Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium in the summer of 2009. The Gardens will raise an additional $2.5 million to complete exhibit space and the Children’s Discovery Classroom.

About Texas Discovery Gardens
Located at historic Fair Park, Texas Discovery Gardens is a year-round urban oasis filled with natural wonders for visitors of all ages. Ten different themed areas include a butterfly habitat, native wildlife pond, scent garden, shade garden and heirloom garden.

The first certified organic public garden in the state, Texas Discovery Gardens features spectacular native and adapted plants grown using sustainable methods that conserve water and protect the environment.

Gardening workshops and guided tours provide expert advice on using native and adapted plants to create backyard habitats for butterflies, birds and other native wildlife. At Texas Discovery Gardens, visitors discover a wealth of information on ways to restore, conserve and preserve natural environments in urban areas.

Texas Discovery Gardens is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is funded in part by the Dallas Park and Recreation Department.


Contact: Sarah Gardner, PR and Programs Coordinator
214-428-7476 ext. 23 –or-- (469) 438-0002 (mobile)
contact@texasdiscoverygardens.org

The Show Archive [click here] has been updated with the long-missing December 23rd Christmas Show as well as the January 6th and January 13th shows. Enjoy!

by Dr. Michael Merchant, Urban Entomologist
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

Still looking for an environmentally-friendly insecticide that won't harm beneficial insects, but still sticks it to pesky pests? You may need to look no further.

Spinosad (pronounced spin OH sid) is a relatively new insect killer that quickly and safely controls a variety of caterpillar, beetle and thrips pests. Spinosad is derived from the fermentation juices of a lowly soil bacterium called Saccharopolyspora spinosa. To chemists, spinosad is a complex molecule known as a "glycosylated macrolactone;" but to gardeners with a hankering for safer products, it may be a godsend.


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The January issue of Living Natural First Magazine is now available. Members can access the January Issue by clicking here.

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COLLEGE STATION - Something in your holiday heart will urge you to attempt to forge a long-term relationship with your poinsettia.

But before you repot it and spend time and money trying to encourage it to produce vivid colors again, make it a martyr for your spring garden, suggests a Texas Cooperative Extension horticulturist.

"Unless you are an absolute plant nut, the most economical and reasonable thing to do is to discard it when it starts to look rough around the edges," said Dr. Don Wilkerson, Extension horticulturist and Earth-Kind advocate.

"And the best way to get rid of a poinsettia is in a sustainable manner by tossing it on a compost pile rather than in the trash. We don't need to contribute to the endless stream of yard waste that is clogging up urban landfills."

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CLARKSVILLE – Red imported fire ants had no natural enemy in Red River County until this fall when phorid flies were released in the area to help combat the infamous pests.

Texas Cooperative Extension experts said they hope a population of the phorid flies will establish themselves by spring in a pasture near Clarksville, where the flies are likely to flourish and stalk fire ants.

“The flies as a biological control hold promise for suppressing red imported fire ants,” said Extension agent Lynn Golden, based in Clarksville. “It doesn’t promise to eradicate the ants. It’s just another way to help control them.”

The phorid flies were released on 24 mounds in late October, said Kim Schofield, an Extension program specialist in Dallas who coordinated the project. She and Golden will return to the mounds in April and October to measure the fly populations.

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