Native Plant Society of Texas

Past Chapter Presentations

Welcome to a record of the presentations made to our chapter.  Presenting  our history and philosophy is a growing process. Each link will take you to the overview of that speaker.

Beginning with the October, 2021 presentation, the link will take you directly to the YouTube video of  that  presentation if one is available. Otherwise there is a note of who spoke and handout links if available.

2023 Chapter Presentations

Enchanted Rock ~ 02.28.2023

Eighteen miles north of Fredericksburg the tip of a pink granite batholith, – 1.1 billion years old – rises above the much younger limestone layers of the Edwards Plateau.Enchanted Rock

Read More »

02.28.2023

1.24.2023       Diana Wilson,  focuses on the Fibonacci sequence. – a mathematical pattern that occurs throughout nature – including native plants.

 

2022 Chapter Presentations

10.25.2022   Rare & Endangered Plants  by Michael Eason,  Associate Director of Conservation and Collections, San Antonio Botanical Garden. Endangered plants of the Chihuahua  Desert were highlighted. A great presentation that is unavailable due to bad sound recording 

 09.27.2022      Edible & Medicinal Plants with Kim Ort

Chili Petin

08.23.2022   Craig Hensley , Using INaturalist for Science, Learning and Fun, too. Learn how to use iNaturalist to explore and identify the world around us.

07.26.2022     Robert Edmonson,  Texas A&M Forest Service Biologist , returned to talk about his favorite subject:Trees. ‘What is Going On with My Trees?’ Unfortunately there is no video of this presentation. Instead, he spoke extensively from 35 years experience to describe how trees grow and what challenges they face in today’s climate. Information providing growing conditions for trees native to Gillespie County are located here.

 

06.28.2022      Dinah Zike”s STEAM Garden, Native Plants, and Recycling: Oh, My ! introduces us to her Comfort TX garden and the educational philosophy of STEAM. “Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, & Science.  Technical difficulties. No video available.

 

Taylor Collins of ROAM Ranch near Fredericksburg, introduces a vision of building and operating a multi species regenerative ecosystem in which soil building practices are integrated into every aspect of land management in this month’s topic: Restoring Functional Ecosystems with Regenerative Agriculture”.     05.24.2022

Sue Blackwell, our speaker for April, is particularly fascinated with pollination and the intricacy of the social structure in a honeybee colony. She speaks on  the importance of honeybees in our environment. 04.26.2022

Karen Taylor, led the presentation and discussion of  “Going Green – Refusing Plastics”. Plastics area present part our Hill Country air and soil.  The hand out  Going Green includes the pertinent, practical and local resources to encourage us to “refuse” bringing plastics home in the first place.  03. 2022

Water is Life. Rainwater harvesting and watershed stewardship, the focus of the February 22 presentation, has been the essence of Billy Kniffen‘s 31 years  as a Texas AgriLife Extension Service Water Resource Specialist.  Practical experience was gained on his own home in Menard, Texas. 02.22.2022

 

Sustainable Soil    brought to life by David Vaughn, ISA certified arborist. Soil is more than sand, silt, and clay with some small amount of organic matter.” 01.25.2022

2021 Chapter Presentations

The COVID19 pandemic disruption continued through March of 2021. But life is returning.

Daniel Oppenheimer & Elizabeth McGreevy: in a dual presentation Daniel and Elizabeth address the drama of the Ashe Juniper: Hill Country Cedars, History, Myths and Upland StewardshipElizabeth McGreevy is author of Wanted: Mountain Cedars, Dead and Alive. 11.23.2021

Beth McMahon, the Horticulture County Extension Agent for Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service for Gillespie Country, leads us through  Propagating and Seed Collecting from Native Plants    10.26.2021

Using I-Naturalist,  Sheryl Smith-Rodgers explores and identifies the tiny things in her surroundings as well as the obvious. From Trash to Treasure follows the rescue of an unidentified native plant in a construction zone to the ultimate discovery that it  was an unknown plant that now has a name: Edwards Plateau crestrib morning glory (Ipomoea edwardsensis) 09.28.2021

Sharon Hixon,  a member of both the Kerrville and Fredericksburg chapters of NPSOT,  has been observing, absorbing, and sharing the native ecosystem since 2008. She describes herself as a generalist,  we could call her a mentor.  Sharon’s topic, Flowering Trees and Shrubs  for the Texas Hill Country, leads all of us into the planning stages for autumn’s cooler planting season. 08.24.2021

Rufus  Stephens, a Certified Wildlife Biologist and Coauthor of Attracting Birds in the Texas Hill Country: a Guide to Land Stewardship, addresses land management with a special emphasis on birds . 07.27.2021

Shannon Brown, founded  Ecosystem Regeneration Artisans to create a team that focuses on earth care and people care. Native plants provide wildlife habitat for pollinators and birds within her gardens and often involve mechanisms to harvest rainwater, capturing it into the soil before it runs off, becomes polluted, and contributes to flooding. 06.22.2021   Bio & video link.

Hillside Stewardship with Daniel Oppenheimer, Land Program Manager for the Hill Country Alliance: A key component is to stop erosion. One method – the media luna, a semi-circular construction that cut across the drainage field to slow the water sufficiently to allow the water to soak into the soil. 05.25.2021  Zoom meeting

 Katherine Tanner of Hat & Heart Farm is the “heart” of a Fredericksburg farm that believes in organic, sustainable farming practices that build the  soil  for the future. With that topic in mind, Katherine is our speaker for our first chapter Zoom meeting. Although this Zoom meeting was publicized, it was not taped. 04.27.2021

2020 Chapter Presentations

Beginning in March, 2020 through the end of the year, the Fredericksburg chapter of the Native Plant Society has not had an in-person meeting. You can get a sense of the movement of the chapter through the board meeting minutes. Instead our president, Paula Stone, instituted a weekly newsletter and created garden videos from the top area gardeners to keep us all together and working toward our common love of the environment. The weekly newsletters can be accessed here.

Jeopardy question for $1000: the shrubs, subshrubs and grasses under trees. Answer?

Robert Edmonson, Biologist IV with Texas A&M Forest Service, describes the understory and its importance.

 2020.2.24 FBG  Chapter Meeting

The Story of Wild Seed Farms: A Leader in the Restoration of Native Wildflowers . 

John R. Thomas, is our opening speaker for 2020 season of the Fredericksburg chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas  1.28.2020 Fbg Chapter Meeting

2019 Chapter Presentations

 

Madrone Lore and More: How to Plant a Madrone Tree. Join  David Winningham through an eight-year long journey of learning how to cultivate Madrones. These hardy beautiful trees are members of a large madrone family, but only the  Ericaceae Arbutus xalapensisis, is the beautiful native to the Texas Hill Country and Trans-Pecos.10.22.2019 Chapter meeting  

Butterflies NOT named “Monarch” The Hill Country’s Other Scale-Winged Wonders

Join Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s “Texas Nature Trackers” Biologist, Craig Hensley, for an introduction to the rich diversity of butterflies that call the Texas Hill Country home.  9.24.19 Chapter Meeting

iNaturalist. An introduction to the citizen scientist website by Kelly Bender Simon, Texas Parks and Wildlife  8.27.19 FBG CHAPTER MEETING

 

         Seed Balls: Hands-on party beginning with ice cream sundaes and then making seed balls with Zenobia  07.23,19

 

Texas Bumble Bees . . .What’s the Buzz?    Dr. Jessica Beckham introduces us to our Lone Star bees; those that co-evolved with special adaptations to pollinate our own Texas native plants.  06.25.2019 Chapter Meeting.

 

“Rainscaping – The Next Generation of WaterWise Landscaping”    Shannon Brown designs native plant gardens and landscapes that not only conserve water during dry spells, but mitigate flooding during downpours. 05.28.19 Chapter Meeting  

 

“18 Years of Native Plant Gardening  Kathy Lyles condenses gardening advice from the experiments of the last 18 years observing and working with native plants. Read some of her tips in the minutes. 04.23.2019 FBG Chapter Meeting

 

 “What is Real Land Stewardship?”  Steve Nelle is one of Texas’ foremost experts in range and riparian conservation.  03.26.19 Chapter Meeting Minutes.03.26.19 CHAPTER MEETING

 

“How to Drought Proof Texas”  Pete VanDyke demonstrates  methods to capture rainfall and eliminate erosion.  02.26.19 Chapter Meeting    

 

“Seasons at Selah: The legacy of Bamberger Ranch Preserve.”  David Bamberger , photographer David K. Langford  and long friend Andrew Sansom introduce us to Selah and discuss the Preserve’s significance to conservation and what it means for Texas. 01.22.2019 FBG chapter meeting