NPSOT-Wilco

Call For Quilt Blocks

You might have seen at a NPSOT – Williamson County meeting the native plants quilt that Marilyn Perz won in a raffle at last year’s Symposium. Here’s your opportunity to participate in the creation of the quilt to be raffled at the 2013 Symposium in Corpus Christi. Here’s a picture of the quilt, and Marilyn tells the story of how she really didn’t win it, and whose quilt it really is: Last year I submitted 2 blocks and made them 1/2′ too small so they both had to have borders around them. I actually did not “win” the … Continue reading →

Website Transfer Completed

Posted on May 18, 2013 by rkamper

The transfer and redirection from npsotwilco.wordpress.com to http://npsot.org/wp/wilco has been completed. All pages have been reviewd and brought up to date. If you find any broken links (pictures that aren’t there, documents that don’t download, off-site links that fail) on the site, please report using the comment form or send an email to npsotwilcowebmaster@yahoo.com. Thank you

June 13, 2013: Parking Lot to Prairie

From Stephen Brueggerhoff June 13, 2013 – Parking Lot to Prairie: Native Plant Ecology in Mixed-use Urban Village, Mueller Neighborhood, Austin, TX Meeting Program Presenter: Chris Lalich, Project Director; RVi Join Chris Lalich, Project Director for landscape architecture firm RVi, for an exclusive look at the evolution of a native plant prairie at the Mueller Neighborhood in Austin, Texas. Chris and his team have incorporated a native ecosystem in this mixed-use urban village, making direct connections and immersing urban dwellers into our regional ecology. Presentation begins after plant clinic and seed swap, short members meeting; free admission and parking, public event. Visitors and guests … Continue reading →

npsotwilco.wordpress.com moving under npsot.org

Posted on May 15, 2013 by rkamper

updated 3:35 PM 5-15-13 This site has been moved under the state NPSOT web site at http://npsot.org/wp/wilco/. You will automatically be redirected here whenever you try to land on http://npsotwilco.wordpress.com. Your email subscriptions are being entered as new users individually in FIFO (First In First Out) order and we are about halfway through. You will have to confirm your subscription to the site by responding to an email or two. In the meantime, If you just can’t wait, please do the following: How to subscribe to NPSOT-Wilco 1. Enter your email and click on the subscribe button in the sidebar to the right of … Continue reading →

Seasonal Blooms – May 2013

Posted on May 14, 2013 by rkamper

These photographs were taken between May 8 – 13, 2013 in Round Rock. A bit of an echo of National Wildflower Week 2013. There is one non-native plant, and at least one which is not native to our locale. Notice the predator insect with its prey in its mouth on the Bluebonnet? … Continue reading →

May Field Trip: Berry Springs Park Plant Survey 3 of 12

Posted on May 13, 2013 by editor

Date and Time: Saturday May 25, 2013. 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM. PLANT SURVEY 3 of 12 at Berry Springs Park & Preserve - Georgetown Join us for a full day of Native Plants! Attend Taxonomy in the morning, 10am-12noon… Head to Dos Salsas Mexican Restaurant on Hwy 29 in Georgetown for lunch from 1:00pm to 2:00pm… then over to Berry Springs Park from 2:30pm-4:30pm for the 3rd Plant Survey of 2013. NOTE: Remember the field of twistleaf yucca (Yucca rupicola) at the turn-around in the Nature Trail? If anyone spots them blooming, please let us know! Bloom time is April to June. … Continue reading →

More “National … Week” Observations Coming Soon

Posted on May 13, 2013 by rkamper

You might have noticed during National Wildflower Week that the USDA Forest Service’s Celebrating Wildflowers page had a news item about National Wildflowers Week May 19 – 25, 2013. The news item is still there, but the proclamation is no longer at the link. My guess is that USDA decided not to mess with the legacy of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. So we apparently won’t have a Wildflower Week and a Wildflowers Week in quick succession. But never fear, Celebrating Wildflowers has June 17 – 23 set aside for National Pollinators Week and right on the heels of that comes National Grasslands … Continue reading →

On the 9th Day of National Wildflower Week – Are You Ready for Your Closeup?

Posted on May 12, 2013 by rkamper

It’s Mother’s Day and what better way to celebrate Mother Earth than by looking at some Portraits of Wildflowers by Steven Schwartzman? You can search for your favorite wildflower, or you can take a look at a bouquet specially handpicked for you by the photographer himself. We encourage you to sign up to his blog if you enjoy getting an interesting artistic nature photograph in your email almost every morning. A member of the Austin chapter of NPSOT, Steven is an accomplished professional photographer and writer, and has contributed over 200 photos to the NPIN plant database at the Wildflower Center, of which the … Continue reading →

National Wildflower Week – Day 8 – be NICE!™

Posted on May 11, 2013 by rkamper

Celebrate the first extra day of NWW (the only nine day week we’ve ever heard of) by celebrating the accomplishments of our fellow chapters, among them the Boerne Chapter. Back in 2002, the folks in the Boerne Chapter of NPSOT had a brilliant idea. Why not expand their Plant of the Month concept into a program that would reach the entire community to promote the use of native plants ? The purpose of the Operation NICE!™ (Natives Instead of Common Exotics) program was to increase both the supply and the demand for native plants in the retail nursery environment. The mission … Continue reading →

NWW day 7 – Bamberger Ranch Family Day

Posted on May 10, 2013 by rkamper

Bamberger Ranch Family Day, 5 May 2013 by Kathy Henderson Having heard about the amazing Bamberger Ranch for years, four of our members were thrilled to have the opportunity to attend Family Day on this 5500 acre range. Winnie Bowen, Vicky Husband , and Walt and Kathy Henderson were thrilled to be going, yes. But they were beyond thrilled at the end of the day. They were exhilarated. Imagine such an area almost devoid of cedar trees! (A few have been retained because the golden cheeked warbler uses the bark in its nest building). Gradually, water returned to the creek … Continue reading →