HARLINGEN — Ocelots have never had it easy.

First, almost all of the habitat they roamed prior to Europeans’ arrival in North America has been consumed by agriculture and development.

Then there was the popularity of using ocelot pelts in what passed for high fashion in the 1960s. Since the only usable part of an ocelot pelt was the strip along the back, it took 40 ocelots to make a single coat.

If that wasn’t enough humiliation, ocelots became popular as pets. You’ve probably seen photos of painter Salvador Dali with his ocelot, Babou. Opera singer Lily Pons also had a pet ocelot named Ita.

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EDINBURG — As the inaugural year winds down at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, administrators are working to bring more course offerings for the second year in business, officials said.

So far, they are preparing to announce more than 20 degree expansions that would allow students to complete some degrees on one campus starting fall 2016.

“One of the primary objectives and main goals of UTRGV is to expand educational opportunity,” said UTRGV Deputy Provost Cynthia Brown. “One of the most important ways is to make our programs available to students throughout the Valley without having to travel.”

The creation of UTRGV meant that what officials call the legacy institutions — UT-Pan American and UT-Brownsville — had to reorganize their course offerings to now work as one.

Not every degree was fully available at each campus, which meant students would be required to travel more than 60 miles between campuses.

This expansion is mainly affecting the Brownsville campus, which will have full degree offerings, including Bachelor of Science degrees in computer science, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.

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Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District’s Student Advisory Board along with Travis Elementary Student Council members exemplified what it means to be HCISD Proud as they worked in partnership with Keep Harlingen Beautiful to plant 12 oak trees at Travis Elementary.

John Castellanos, a fifth-grade student, grabbed a shovel and poured mulch as he expressed his excitement to take part in something that will be enjoyed by the community for years to come.

“I’m so happy that all these people came out to plant trees,” said Castellanos. “Now all the students that come here will have a nice place to sit under during recess or get some shade while they read a book. Even the people that drive by the school will see them.”

Superintendent Dr. Art Cavazos, campus administrators as well as KHB members spoke to the group of students about the importance of coming together for the benefit of the community.

“We are very excited to continue projects with Keep Harlingen Beautiful,” Dr. Cavazos said. “Together, we are one school district, one city and our partnerships with one another are most valuable when we work together. The students helping today are showing and modeling the importance of giving back to our community.”

“Travis Elementary is thankful for everyone who came to our campus and dedicated their time to help make the school even more beautiful than it already is,” said Principal Beulah Rangel. “Keep Harlingen Beautiful and Harlingen Student Advisory Board, thank you for allowing my students to participate in this event. What you’ve done today is a model for my students on what leadership is and what giving back really means.”

The event was particularly significant for Nick Consiglio, Executive Committee Member at KHB, as he is a former Travis student.

“I attended school at Travis Elementary in the early 1980s, so when I heard about the project, I was eager to help,” said Consiglio. “Also, this is part of our public space, and Travis is right at the heart of our city.”

An added benefit of beatification projects like this is that businesses will be more inclined to invest in Harlingen if they see a vibrant and attractive community.

“This is a huge benefit to the community as economic development is centered around beautiful communities,” he said.

Consiglio encouraged everyone to recycle as most of KHB’s funding comes from recycling center proceeds. The more Harlingen recycles, the more the group can do to beautify the city.

Keep Harlingen Beautiful is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 by a group of concerned citizens. The purpose of the organization is to empower and educate the community to clean, beautify the environment, and recycle.

The Student Advisory Board consists of 15 students from the HCISD’s secondary campuses and provides an avenue for participation and involvement of student leaders in the district.

BY NORMAN ROZEFF

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the next installment in an ongoing series on San Benito’s Sam Robertson. Find earlier stories at www.valleystar.com.

The local newspaper carried a story noting that Sam Robertson was planning a one-mile spur of his interurban line from Los Indios to the Harlingen pumping station. With this extension the Harlingen Irrigation District projected land values to increase and that the land would be developed. Up to 1,000 acres of sugarcane were expected to be planted, the crop then to be transported to the San Benito mill.

Some area growers had already anticipated a renewed sugarcane interest. Earlier in the year the Barber Plantation Co. of San Benito was organized with $50,000 capital. Its purpose was to grow and sell sugarcane. Involved in this endeavor were Charles E. Barber, H. K. Barber, and C. M. Roberts.

Early in 1916, Hiram Hart and others formed the Sunset Sugar Company, a New York corporation, to take over the assets of the Rio Grande Sugar Company. In February it purchased from C. P. Barreda, a tract of 2,000 acres about five miles northwest of Brownsville. Out of it had 900 acres been cleared, but 1,100 were still in brush. Immediately 300-500 men and 100 teams of mules began preparing 500 acres for planting to cane with only 2,000 tons seed available. The remainder was planned for clearing and planting by January 1917.

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A spur track was to be laid near the Gulf Coast Brick and Tile Co. to unload seed near the planting site. Some of this future cane would provide the Donna mill. Together the Donna and San Benito mills had ground only 15 percent of capacity in the 1915-16 season; both had realized substantial profits due to the excellent price of sugar. To facilitate cane transport the San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railway did construct a spur to the Barreda area where cane was being expanded. In March 1916 the railway had been acquired by the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway Company but continued to operate as a separate company. At this time it operated 165 miles of track and was a key to moving cane to the various mills as they fell in and out of operation for a particular season. Robertson’s dream, as W. W. Housewright tells us in his San Benito Pioneers, was “to build a railroad within one mile of every farmer in the Valley in order to ship sugarcane. He built some 140 miles of track then the farmers quit growing cane.”

This railroad had been, in large part, instrumental in hauling sugarcane from remote field areas to the mills. The railroad gave Rio Hondo a sugar connection. In 1982 upon the 55th year as an incorporated town Rio Hondo conducted related activities. One was a compilation of remembrances put together in a booklet titled “Pioneer Families of Rio Hondo.”

James Taylor noted that the Hartzog family, longtime grocers in Rio Hondo, had come to San Benito in August 1909.

“The San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railroad-spider web was organized and extended to Rio Hondo. The purpose of the railroad was to haul sugarcane being grown or what was known as the sugar cane tract, just north of Rio Hondo. For a time the sugarcane was shipped by rail to be ground and refined into brown sugar at the old San Benito sugar mill. The mill was built while the Hartzogs were living in San Benito.” The latter moved to Rio Hondo because of the development of the sugarcane industry in the area. The original Rio Hondo developers were Edward H. Smith and William H. Morrison. They developed land out of the Concepcion de Carricitos Grant. In 1907 the San Benito Land and Water Company bought 14,708 acres at $12.50/acre. They sold 1,000 acres of it to the San Benito Sugar Manufacturing Company.

The San Benito Irrigation District during this period had a fixed charge of $6/acre for sugarcane and alfalfa, $4 for cotton, the first crop and fruit, $2 for the second crop of corn, and $10 for garden truck. Laborers were paid 75¢ per day for clearing land. The total cost of clearing ranged from $6 to 12 an acre.

Although the company may have passed through several crises, a Mercedes Tribune article dated 1/11/17 stated that “…the Borderland Sugar Co. operating a mill at San Benito had recently purchased 8,000 acres of land adjoining Mercedes on the east and that 1000 acres will be planted to cane before the end of the month. The entire acreage will be planted next year.” The latter was never culminated.

The San Benito newspaper offered a glimmer of hope for the San Benito mill to operate when it noted the possibility following the destruction of the Harlingen mill by arsonists and the fact that the Donna mill was not ready to grind even as of this date. This was not to be however.

Following the mill’s closure after operating for only four seasons of the six years since its construction, it sat unused for three more years. Then its equipment, which C.P.&L. could not utilize, had a strange fate in store for it. It was sold to Charles F. Murphy, a New Orleans sugar equipment man, for $167,000. Thought was that it would end up in Cuba. The Patout brothers, Hippolyte and William (Willie), from Patoutville, Louisiana purchased three sets of three-roll mills and transported them to their mill in that town. These Reading mill rolls were not installed until the off-season of 1937 when they became the front end of a 17-roll mill train. The well-designed equipment saw long service in their Enterprise Mill, finally being replaced in 1959 after a disastrous fire on March 3, 1959.

This excerpt from J. Carlyle Sitterson’s Sugar Country tells what happened to most of the factory:

“ … In 1919 the Pennsylvania Sugar Company, owner of a refinery in Philadelphia bought about 75,000 acres on the Miami canal, seventeen miles northeast of Miami. By 1921 it had 800 acres in cane, with plans to increase the acreage. It purchased a mill in San Benito, Texas, and removed it to Florida … opened January 19, 1924 when the machinery of the Pennsylvania Sugar Company’s mill began grinding cane. [After expenditures of $3 to 4 million the company abandoned this project. Inadequate water control and lack of knowledge of the effect of copper sulphate in the muck soils were mainly responsible for the failure.] In the meantime the predecessor company to U.S. Sugar Corporation was developing the area just south of Lake Okeechobee despite adversities.

“In September, 1926, a hurricane moved in from Miami across the peninsula and much of the lake poured over the dikes into the small village of Moore Haven and the surrounding country. More than 300 persons were killed or injured, the town was ruined, and the optimism of the growing Everglades farm population was dealt a severe blow. Before this disaster had been forgotten, an even more devastating hurricane swept in from Palm Beach in September, 1928, and hit the Belle Glade area with full force, all but demolishing the small towns of Belle Glade and Pahokee and killing about 2,400 persons”. The Southern Sugar Company continued to expand its holdings nevertheless.

The Canal Point mill of the Florida Sugar and Food Products Company and the Hialeah mill of the Pennsylvania Sugar Company were purchased and moved to Clewiston, where they were combined with new equipment to make a 1,500 ton capacity mill, completed in early 1929 at an estimated cost of $2,000,000.”

Thus it is with some irony that one of South Texas’s last mills became the foundation for Florida’s solid and thriving sugar industry, namely what was to become the country’s largest sugarcane entity — the U.S. Sugar Company.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Part I

in a two-part series on financial health

There is a pie-chart that explains the “social determinants of health,” which sounds fancy but really just summarizes in a simple way all of the research and science about what influences our health the most. Why is it that in some zip codes, or even regions or countries, people, on average, have better health outcomes, and may even live longer, than in others?

Sometimes the differences are striking. For example, if you map obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases in the U.S. there are some clear regions that have much higher rates. The South, including Texas, is one of them. There are, of course, many factors that contribute to our health, including genetics. But surprisingly this is not the greatest influence.

The pie is divided into four sections, including 1. “Access to Healthcare” (all things doctors, clinics, screenings, hospitals, pharmacies, labs, whether or not you have health insurance and access to them); 2. “Health Behaviors” (what we eat, how we exercise, whether or not we smoke, drink too much, or engage in other risky behaviors); 3. “Physical Environment” (environmental quality of air, water, the design of safe communities for physical activity, quality of life infrastructure, whether or not we have easy access to healthy food and green spaces, social/family support); but the largest piece of that pie chart is titled 4. “Socio-economic Factors” (education, employment and income). It might surprise you that income is what most strongly determines our health.

It might also explain the correlation between poverty and poor health outcomes, life expectancy, etc. because when you are poor you are more likely not to have access to the other pieces of the pie like healthcare and a healthy environment. Does that mean low-income folks don’t care about their health? Absolutely not!

In fact, amazingly many people who struggle financially are often role models when it comes to “health behaviors” despite not having the ease nor access to safe places to exercise or funds to make easy, healthy choices about food. And yet the obstacles, and statistics are there.

Generally people who have more wealth and assets are healthier. When we are unhealthy we are less able to work which can impact our income and create a cycle. I absolutely do not want to diminish the very real struggles many people in our own community face day to day in terms of basic survival. But there are also many families who do have some income and could be healthier financially if given tools and training, myself included.

Since income is such an important determinant of our health, I decided to talk with an expert about how people could work toward a basic level of financial health, even in a lower or middle income bracket.

Zoraima Diaz manages La Puerta, a financial health program of the Community Development Corporation of Brownsville (CDCB), a nonprofit affordable housing organization. She explains how financial health is tied to physical health, and why it is so important for families of all income levels to focus on lowering debt and eventually move into home ownership. According to Diaz, CDCB’s La Puerta program allows clients to participate in “financial therapy” through a variety of asset building services simultaneously to achieve financial stability, resilience and long-term prosperity.

That sounds good to me. So what exactly is considered “financial health”?

Diaz explains, “Financial health means you can pay your bills on time, have money saved for an emergency, and have a plan for your financial future. Financial health is achieved when a family or individual’s every day situation is financially stable, resilient and they are positioned for long-term financial prosperity. For a typical family this would mean that they have enough income each month to meet their basic household needs without depending on high interest credit cards or pay day loans. A family that is financially resilient would be able to draw on savings to cover the cost of an unexpected emergency such as a car repair or a child breaking a limb without having to depend on predatory pay-day or car title loans. Families that have established a plan to fund their retirement and support their children’s higher educational endeavors are on a path to achieve long-term financial health and prosperity.”

Diaz continues, “This topic is especially important in our area. Brownsville is one of the poorest cities in the country, in one of the poorest regions. Unfortunately low-income working households often find themselves trapped in a cycle of chronic instability on account of their low wages and incongruent income streams. Moreover they navigate a marketplace with a prevalence of aggressively marketed predatory financial products and services and an absence of culturally relevant bilingual financial education.

Households in the Valley often operate in geographic isolation from mainstream financial service institutions while encountering regularly occurring financial challenges.”

Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of households in Cameron County are liquid asset poor and would not be able to live above the poverty line for three months should they experience a sudden loss of income. One out of two households lack access to adequate financial resources to weather a unexpected economic shock such as unforeseen job loss, divorce or the onset of chronic illness. The liquid asset poverty indicator and the high incidence of households trapped in the cycle of chronic financial instability are indicative of an endemic problem in our community with significant consequences for families’ financial well-being that warrants an innovative and powerful intervention. Financially stable households are better consumers with larger purchasing power, attract businesses, contribute to local revenue and generate a demand for sound financial products and services.”

So not only is the financial health of all of our residents, not just the very wealthy, good for families and individuals, it is good for our community and economy — and it is good for our health! Tu Salud ¡Si Cuenta! (Your Health Matters!).

April is Autism Awareness Month. The “Light It Up Blue” campaign was created to support World Autism Awareness Day and Autism Awareness Month in the United States. On Saturday, April 2, 2015, buildings throughout the world will be lit up in blue to highlight Autism Awareness Day.

The campaign is a worldwide effort to help raise awareness so that people will better understand what autism is and what autism is not. The research and awareness organization, Autism Speaks, began this program to highlight the progress and the challenges that face families who have members with autism.

This disability continues to be a growing public health crisis with 1 in 68 children being diagnosed with ASD (autism spectrum disorder). Many unanswered questions still surround this challenging diagnosis.

“The Light it Up Blue” campaign includes such famous buildings and sites as the Empire State Building, the Sydney Opera House, the Cairo Tower, the Palacio del Belles Artes, the Great Buddha at Hyogo, and the Niagara Falls. It is a wonderful opportunity for people throughout the world to recognize the same concern at the same time. More than 1,000 buildings across the globe have agreed to join together to be a part of Autism Awareness Day’s “Light It Up Blue Campaign.” You too can join the campaign on autism awareness by lighting up your home with a blue light or wearing a blue shirt.

If you have an autism shirt with the puzzle symbol, it is all the better. There are plenty of opportunities to spread the word about what autism is for the next thirty days.

Today more people have become aware of what autism is and what some of the challenges are for these very special individuals. However, there is still a long way to go. Organizations such as Autism Speaks http://www.autismspeaks.org and Autism Society http://wwwautism-society.org have excellent websites on autism and the assistance that is available to individuals, families and friends with ASD.

Brownsville also has a parental support organization called Valley Autism Support Team, VAST. You can contact Lorie Gonzalez at (956) 579-7547 for current VAST information. The group meets monthly usually at Hidden Talents Academy at 824 Palm Blvd. in Brownsville. VAST is also involved in bringing monthly sensory friendly movies to the area with Cinemark Theaters. This organization provides an opportunity for families to come together to discuss new treatments, behavior modification techniques, and sensory activities.

Autism Awareness Month has several activities occurring in our local area. Brownsville will be having its First Annual Autism Festival at Dean Porter Park on Saturday, April 2, 2016. Registration on that day will be between 6:45 a.m.-7:15a.m. for “The One Mile Fun Run/Walk”. The cost to register on the actual day is $15 for kids and $18 for adults including t-shirt. You can contact Hidden Talents Academy directly for more information at 956-621-3268 including for early registration discounts. Groups are also encouraged to participate. Every year, Harlingen, San Benito and Port Isabel School Districts also have wonderful activities for April Autism Awareness Month.

Please contact the school districts directly to see what events are occurring in those communities.

Pamela Gross Downing, a special education teacher can be reached at [email protected].

“Keep close to nature’s heart…and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain, or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”

John Muir, Naturalist and National Parks founder, 1838-1914

Once again we are entering Spring time, awaiting the bounties of beauty that nature has to offer as the trees and other flora and fauna awake from their winters sleep. In the early morning, as I sit on my porch, I commune with nature; sitting there in quiet solitude with my morning cup of coffee, I enjoy the cool wind against my face, the scurry of a few cottontail rabbits and squirrels, the birds flying hither and yon, the pleasure of the trees and shrubbery surrounding our house, and the many variety of ducks on our lake. It is so wonderful to be with nature.

There have been many books, scholarly articles, and other writings concerning human’s relationship to nature.

We know from archaeological record, such as cave and shelter paintings from around the world, that early man had a very all-consuming connection to nature and the forces of nature; a connection that has continued throughout man’s existence on this planet.

But what is it in the human psyche that causes one to be continuously drawn to nature?

The answers mostly can be found in neurochemicals in the brain called Endorphins.

There are approximately 20 different types of endorphins in our neurochemistry. They are to be found in the pituitary gland, parts of the brain, and throughout the nervous system. Endorphins are naturally occurring chemical opioids, which have the primary purpose of alleviating pain and giving pleasure.

We have all heard of the “runner’s high,” and example of the way one feels with the exhilaration of running; yet few realize that it is endorphins that are responsible for our pleasure in eating that ice cream cone, winning at a game, being with a loved one; and yes, even enjoying the most pleasurable feelings of being marveled at the wonders of nature.

The release of endorphins occurs after our brain receives signals from one or more of our 5 senses; taste, smell, touch, sight, and hearing. What we see, hear, touch, taste, or smell is transmitted from the appropriate organ (the eye, ear, etc.) to the part of the brain which will interpret what the sense tells it; and give us an interpretation of the event…endorphins are released to give us either pleasure and, if the event is painful; help us alleviate the pain.

In having an experience in nature, enveloping our senses with our environment, most (if not all) our senses become active and release a lot of endorphins throughout our system; we find that we are at one with nature we enjoy the pleasure that it brings. That is why it really is impossible for one to separate ourselves from nature (that’s why it is called “NATURal” after all), yet people work at doing that every day; and with our urbanization and ever increasing technology immersion many are separating from nature more and more.

This separation from nature and the events in nature cause devastating blows to our physical, mental, social, and spiritual health; which makes up the totality of our wholistic self.

Scientific studies, and our own experience, has proven over and over that being in nature; whether it be walking, biking, canoeing, or just sitting and enjoying the view; has alleviated depression and anxiety, and assisted in decreasing the symptoms of many physical health problems as well (bringing down high blood pressure as but one example). Being in nature has a most positive impact on maintaining the bodies overall emotional and physical homeostasis (balance)…it just makes us feel good.

This has been a continuous subject of our species since time in memorable; the subject of famous artistic paintings, novels, movies, songs, etc. Who among you cannot look at a pastoral painting by Monet and not feel warm and pleasurable inside? Or feel the pleasure of that certain song or music that elicits feelings connected to nature? Or witness the awe inspiring beauty of the Grand Canyon or mountains and forests of the Northwest and not be moved by the majesty of it all?

Yes, we all have a connectedness to nature. But yet, we are denying more and more of that every day to ourselves and most of all, to our youth; as the hustle and bustle of urban life and the technology of modern life take over our lives more and more.

I have been most fortunate to have the opportunity of living in and visiting natural wonders all over this earth, but none have been more beautiful and fulfilling than visiting most of the National Parks within our Country, or the State Parks within our own great State of Texas. The Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone, the Redwood National Forest, Big Bend, Yosemite…and many more.

These parks, which my wife and I have visited often, have been most awe inspiring, and have always given me a sense of serenity and pleasure…more so than any mind altering chemical could ever provide. Did you know that we have literally hundreds of State Parks scattered across our Great State of Texas? But we need not even go beyond our beautiful Rio Grande Valley to see the wonders that nature provides. We not only have Padre Island but the Valley is also home to Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site, Santa Ana National Refuge, Atascosa National Refuge, Bentson-Rio Grande State Park, Estero Llano Grande, Resaca De La Palma; and other nature areas and local parks all beautiful in their own right.

When was the last time you parents, along with your children went walking, hiking, or camping in the great outdoors? Are you able to take a summer vacation together? Soon, as we head into Spring and Summer time once again, the great outdoor adventure will be beckoning; and it will be a most favorable time to release those endorphins in a healthy manner.

There are a myriad of benefits of communing with the great outdoors. Interacting with nature boosts energy and happiness levels, boosts creativity, takes away stress, provides a better connection to the world around you, can increase one’s self-esteem, and improve mental clarity and performance. I would that all of you out there can enjoy the benefits that nature has on our mental health…to leave the technology and urbanization behind, and get out there; enjoy nature and feed your mental health because life is fleeting and the journey is long.

Please excuse me now as I return to my porch to continue my commune with nature and get those endorphins flowing. Until next time, stay healthy my friends.

BY LORI MURRAY

The beautiful trumpet-shaped white flowers that blanket our altars this special season symbolize purity, innocence, hope, and life – the spiritual essence of Easter.

History, mythology, literature, poetry, and the world of art are rife with stories and images that speak of the beauty and majesty of these elegant flowers. Often called “the white-robed apostles of hope,” lilies were found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane after Christ’s Agony.

Tradition has it that the beautiful white lilies sprang up where drops of Christ’s sweat fell to the ground in His final hours of sorrow and deep distress. Churches continue this tradition at Easter time by banking their altars and surrounding their crosses with masses of Easter Lilies to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of everlasting life. Since the beginning of time, lilies have played a sIgnificant role in allegorical tales concerning motherhood. Roman mythology links the lily to Juno, the queen of the gods. The story goes that while Juno was nursing her son Hercules, excess milk fell from the sky. Although part of it remained above the earth and created the group of stars known as the Milky Way, the remainder fell to earth and created lilies.

Another legend has it that the lily sprang from the repentant tears of Eve as she went forth from the Garden of Eden.

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The pure white lily has long been associated with the Virgin Mary. In early paintings, the Angel Gabriel is pictured extending to Mary a branch of pure white lilies and announcing that she is to be the mother of the Christ Child.

In other paintings saints are pictured bringing vases of white lilies to Mary and the Infant Jesus. Saint Joseph is depicted holding a lily branch in his hands to indicate that his wife Mary was a virgin.

A legend tells that when the Virgin Mary’s tomb was visited three days after her burial, it was empty except for bundles of majestic white lilies.

Early writers and artists made the lily the emblem of both the Annunciation and of the resurrection of the Virgin, the pure white petals signifying her spotless body and the golden anthers her soul glowing with heavenly light.

A mark of purity and grace throughout the ages, the regal white lily is a fitting symbol of the greater meaning of Easter.

The flowers embody purity and joy, hope and life, as they grace millions of homes and churches. Whether given as a gift or enjoyed in your own home, an EasterLily serves as a beautiful reminder that Easter is a time for rejoicing and celebration.

We can thank Louis Houghton, a World War I soldier, for the popularity of the Bermuda Lily – now known as the Easter Lily – in our country.

In 1919 he brought a suitcase full of hybrid lily bulbs to the southern coast of Oregon and gave them to family and friends to plant.

As it turned out, the climate there was ideal for growing this lily, a native of the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and by 1945 more than 1,000 West Coast growers were producing bulbs for the commercial market.

Despite a sales window of only about two weeks each year, Easter Lilies are the fourth largest potted plant crop in the United States, ranking among poinsettias, mums, and azaleas as America’s favorite potted plant. For maximum enjoyment of your Easter Lily, remove the yellow anthers before the pollen starts to shed. This gives longer flower life and prevents the pollen from staining the white petals.

When a mature flower starts to wither after its prime, cut it off to make the plant more attractive while you enjoy the fresher, newly opened blooms.