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Fredericksburg Chapter

Fredericksburg Chapter Resources

Live meetings on our YouTube Channel explore the potential of gardening with native plants.

From the home page of Fredericksburg Texas Native GardeningClick “live” to open the scheduled meeting. Click the picture to be connected. The chat window will be open for questions during the presentation. You must be a subscriber to join the chat.

 

LANDSCAPE PLANNING

Firewise Landscaping for Texas    https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/uploadedFiles/TFSMain/Preparing_for_Wildfires/Contact_Us(2)/EDITED%202012firelandscape.pdf

Gardening and Landscaping Guides

  • Samples of Garden Planning Maps:     6 individual diagrams from Deede Wright to lead you through the process of designing your own landscape. Can be used with the YouTube video
  • Xeriscaping Your Yard.Wasowski, Sally, and Andy Wasowski. Native Texas Plants: Landscaping Region by Region. Austin: Texas Monthly Press, 1988. (For some members, this is their “Go To” book)
  • Hudson, Virginia (Ginger)  Landscape Maintenance for Central Texas Gardens   iBook

        General Reference
      • The Fredericksburg Nature Center is a wonderful local resource for viewing and learning about plants in garden and natural settings. Their facebook page provides a tour all by itself.
      • Hill Country Master Naturalists offer public talks on many topics of interest to property owners, as well as the Land Management Assistance Program designed to help you understand what you have and apply good stewardship practices.
      • Hill Country Master Gardeners offer information and a variety of programs to help you become a better gardener.  
      • The LBJ Wildflower Center is a go-to resource for almost any kind of questions you may have about native plants. A variety of special collections are designed for central Texas gardeners searching for ideas concerning specific challenges: dry shade?  drought tolerance?  Wetlands?  Containers? .
      • The Native Prairie Association of Texas is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of native prairies in Texas
      • TPWD Nongame and Rare Species Program has crafted native pollinator management guidelines landowners can use to develop their wildlife management plan for wildlife tax valuation.

            General Plant Lists: Recommended native plants for our area.

     Local Sources for Native Plants

  • The Garden Haus, 109 FM 473, Comfort, 830-995-5610
  • Natives of Texas, 4256 Medina Highway, Kerrville, 830-896-2169
  • Plant Haus 2, 604 Jefferson Street, Kerrville, 830-792-4444
  • The Gardens at The Ridge, 13439 S. Ranch Road 783 (Harper Rd.), Kerrville, 830-896-0430
  • Friendly Natives, 1107 N. Llano Street, Fredericksburg, 830-997-6288
  • Medina Garden Nursery, 13417 TX Highway 16, Medina, 830-589-2771

      

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT PLANNING RESOURCES

 

FORESTRY CARE ( for whatever size forest you have):

     Texas Forest Service Regional Contact

Robert Edmonson, Biologist III / ISA Certified Arborist, Texas A&M Forest Service
P.O. Box 1718 (mailing) 208 South Lady Bird Lane (physical), Johnson City, TX 78636
830-868-7949 (office)
979-220-0913 (cell)
redmonson@tfs.tamu.edu (email)

     Taking Samples

Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory – 979-845-8032 / 979-845-6499 fax

 

WHAT IS IT? Plant Identification

Seek by iNaturalist Search your app store for this app for your phone/camera. Designed by the iNaturalist team it was created for individuals and children who simply want to point, click, and have an immediate idea what that plant or animal is. No registration needed.

• Get outside and point the Seek Camera at living things

• Identify wildlife, plants, and fungi and learn about the organisms all around you

iNaturalist.org    Is the more extensive version of the crowdsourced species identification system and an organism occurrence recording tool. You can use it to record your own observations, get help with identifications, collaborate with others to collect this kind of information for a common purpose, or access the observational data collected by iNaturalist users. Download the app at your app store.

An extensive catalogue of native plant images can be found at http://www.texaswildflowerpictures.com/wf_index.htm

Two general resources and three iBooks are recommended by members

    • Enquist, Marshall. Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country. Austin: Lone Star Botanical, 1988 (Kathy’s #1 book for ID) Austin conservationist Marshall Enquist provides detailed descriptions and color illustrations of 427 wildflower species. Broad in scope, the book covers everything from the smallest meadow flowers to the largest flowering trees and shrubs.

    • Linex, Ricky J.. Range Plants of North Central Texas: A Land Users Guide to Their Identification, Value, and Management. Independent publisher, 2014. (Find at seedsource.com and NRCS offices) “there are multiple photos of each of the 324 plants described, including pictures of seeds and flowers in many cases.”

    • Woody Plants of the Texas Hill Country, Sandra Magee and Scott Magee. Apple Books.

    • Hill Country Grasses, Sandra Magee and Scott Magee. Apple Books.

    • Common Texas Hill Country Forbs, Scott Magee. Apple Books.

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YouTube Presentations

FREDERICKSBURG TEXAS NATIVE GARDENING   features chapter presentations to help you experience the unique habitat of the Edwards Plateau. You will find articles for everything from hillside stewardship and rain gardens, to how dark skies affect us, to how to use iNaturalist to identify plants and insects around us. 

The presentations provide a great way to glean thoughts that you missed the first time around.

Gilbriar Production videos highlight regional native gardening with tours of landscaping with natives:

 

About the Region

Fall Symposium 2025 Logo - Teach for the Future

Salado, the location of our Fall 2025 Symposium, lies at the intersection of two ecoregions: the Edwards Plateau (Limestone Cut Plain) and Blackland Prairie (Northern Blackland Prairie).

The Edwards Plateau area is also called the Hill Country; however, this general term covers a much larger area extending farther north. Spring-fed creeks are found throughout the region; deep limestone canyons, rivers, and lakes (reservoirs) are common. Ashe juniper is perhaps the most common woody species found throughout the region. Additional woody species include various species of oak, with live oak (Quercus fusiformis) being the most common. Sycamores (Platanus occidentalis) and bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) border waterways. This area is well known for its spring wildflower displays, though they may be viewed in spring, late summer, and fall, as well. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, average annual rainfall in the Edwards Plateau ranges from 15 to 34 inches.

The Blackland Prairie extends from the Red River south to San Antonio, bordered on the west by the Edwards Plateau and the Cross Timbers, and on the east by the Post Oak Savannah. Annual rainfall averages 30 to 40 inches, with higher averages to the east. This region is dominated by prairie species. The most common grass species include little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) in the uplands and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) in the riparian areas and drainages. Common herbaceous flowering plants include salvias, penstemons, and silphiums. This area has suffered greatly from overgrazing and agricultural use. Few intact areas remain, though many of the plants can be found along county roadsides throughout the region.

Our four host chapters (New Braunfels, Lindheimer, Guadalupe, and the Hill Country chapters) are located in one or both of the ecoregions above. However, the eastern portion of Guadalupe County also falls within the Post Oak Savanna ecoregion. Annual rainfall averages 35 to 45 inches, with higher averages to the east. A wide variety of hardwood trees are found, including several species of oaks, elms, and in the Bastrop area, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). Grasses and forbs dominate in the open savannas, with most common grass being little bluestem. Ranching, agriculture, and fire suppression have allowed woody species to encroach on the once-open savannas.

Source: Wildflowers of Texas by Michael Eason