Native Plant Society of Texas

The third week of October is Texas Native Plant Week and we here at NPSOT are celebrating by doing our best to get the word out that planting native trees, shrubs and flowers helps conserve water, provides wildlife habitat and shows our Texas pride!

The annual Texas Native Plant Week started in 2009 when Governor Perry signed a bill into law which is intended to emphasize the role of native plants in conservation efforts and to be used as incentive for the Texas education system to teach school children about the importance of native plants. The Native Plant Society of Texas teamed with State Representative Donna Howard to present the bill to the State Legislature. The bill passed unanimously in both houses.

Here are some of the things we are doing to celebrate.

The Highland Lakes Chapter is having a tour of home gardens featuring mostly native plants from 9 AM to 4 PM October 15. The five homes are near Burnet, Kingsland, and Marble Falls. To find out more visit the web page at http://yantislakesidegardens.giving.officelive.com/npsot.aspx or email hlnativeplanttour@yahoo.com for more information.

This Marble Falls home features limestone out-croppings and two Bald Cypress trees, rare on the lake

The Boerne Chapter will also conduct a tour of three gardens in that area where native plants can be seen. The sites are Bergheim Volunteer Fire Station, Honey Creek Wildlife Area and Cibolo Nature Center. For Information about the tours and times go to: http://npsot.org/wp/boerne/ or contact Veronica Hawk at 830-515-9823

The Austin Chapter and the Williamson County Chapter are both participating in the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Fall Plant Sale and Gardening Festival where you can choose from nearly 300 species of Texas native plants in 4 inch to 10 gallon pots. The event also features artists and authors signing their works in the store, guided walks and talks and tips for your garden from experts. Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16, 9 am – 5 pm and for Wildflower Center members only on Friday, October 14th, 1 – 7 pm

Williamson County will also have an information booth all week on native plants and native plant resources at the Georgetown Public Library located at 402 W. 8th Street in Georgetown. There will be a special book rack of native plant books available for check-out from the library.

On October 20, take a walk and discover the beauty and benefits of Central Texas native plants with the Wildflower Center’s Director of Horticulture, Andrea DeLong-Amaya. Program begins at 5:30 pm with an informative tour of the gardens to see colorful natives first hand. Then at 6:30 pm hear a talk that covers the wide variety of native plants and why they are the best choice for Central Texas gardens. More information.

The San Antonio Chapter will be participating in the Fall Festival at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center (10750 Pleasanton Road) on Saturday, October 22 from 9 am to 4 pm where there will be nature activities for all ages and native plants for sale provided by San Antonio Chapter and other gardening groups.

In Ft Worth, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) will celebrate with Prairie Day on October 22 from 10 am to 2 pm. Prairie Day will feature tours of BRIT, seed harvesting and distribution, exhibits featuring their living roof prairie and short informative talks. The Cross Timbers Chapter and North Central Chapter will share a booth to provide information on NPSOT and its NICE! Program. BRIT is located at 1700 University Drive in Ft Worth. More information.

The Houston Chapter is hosting Symposium 2011 at the OMNI Houston Westside on October 14 and 15 with workshops, presentations and field trips. Registration is still open, or you can just show up on Saturday afternoon to shop for native plants and related goodies.

We hope that one of these events will fit into your schedule. If it doesn’t maybe you can find a time to visit a demonstration garden near you or just visit a nursery and pick up some native plants for your garden. You can find lists of demonstration gardens at http://txnativeplantweek.wordpress.com/. More resources including nurseries that sell native plants are available at the website for Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

You can also contact you local chapter of NPSOT for information about resources in your area. A list of chapters with contact information is available at the Chapters tab above.