NPSOT-Wilco – Page 68 – NPSOT-Williamson County Chapter

October 21, 2023

A Beautiful Day in the San Antonio Botanical Garden

San Antonio Botanical Garden September 30 Field Trip Report

— by Erin Buhl

September 30th was the day of our field trip to the San Antonio Botanical Garden. The weather was beautiful and a fun trip was had by all. The group included around 18 people from our chapter, including several current and former members of the Round Rock High School Plant Club who provide so much assistance to us in our plant sales. It is so wonderful to see these young botanists getting involved in our activities.

The field trip started at the main gate where they had a beautiful pumpkin patch area set up along with a small plant sale. The tour was led by Michael Eason, the Associate Director for Conservation and Collections. Michael is working on the garden’s rare and endangered Texas native plants collections.

We then took a walking tour through part of the garden, including the Texas Native Trail. The 11-acre Texas Native Trail contains more than 250 plant species in collections that represent three distinct and diverse ecological regions of Texas: the Hill Country/Edwards Plateau, the East Texas Pineywoods, and South Texas. Michael discussed current state and future plans for this part of the garden.

Next, we made our way to see the propagation work in the greenhouses. They have plants that our chapter has provided for them from our plant rescue program. It was exciting to see our hard work really paying off and making a difference. Michael also showed us some ways that our donation to the center has helped them, for example in helping to fund outdoor shade cloth structures for their potted plants to expand on their greenhouse space.

And finally, tour participants were able to purchase some plants from their native propagation area and we went to the garden’s café for a delicious lunch.

Photos by Erin Buhl

See photos from other field trips in our album=>

Field Trip Photo Album

October 18, 2023October 20, 2023

November 9 Chapter Meeting: “Rare Plants of Williamson County” with Bill Carr

–Post updated 10/20/2023, with a new title and an updated topic description from our speaker.

Please note: our in-person location this month is the Round Rock Public Library, not the Georgetown Public Library.

Join NPSOT-Williamson County on Thursday, November 9, 2023, when our featured topic will be “Rare Plants of Williamson County” with Bill Carr. Free and open to the public. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM. Our guest speaker’s presentation begins after a short business meeting.

This month’s presentation will NOT be recorded for YouTube.

==> If you attend in person, we’re at the Round Rock Public Library, 200 E Liberty Ave, Round Rock, TX 78664. Come early (6:30 PM) for expert advice, to check out the seed swap board, or just to visit.

==> To attend via Zoom, register at https://npsot-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtdequqTwrH9FgCya3ZfZv2DICiTjhLA2Z#/registration

About our topic: Although every plant is interesting in its own way, this talk will focus on some of the rare species known from Williamson County, including some that were reported from the area within the past few years, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Art Gibson* and others. This information will be provided within the natural regions framework in the hope that it will help others appreciate the botanical diversity in their neighborhoods.

* Note from NPSOT-Wilco => Dr. Art Gibson is a long-time chapter member!

About our speaker: Bill Carr received a B. S. in botany from The Ohio State University in December 1978 and wasted no time moving to Texas, settling in Alpine in January 1979 before eventually relocating to Austin. He spent 35 years doing field work for Texas plant conservation programs, first with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and later with The Nature Conservancy of Texas. After leaving TNCT in 2011, he formed his own company, Acme Botanical Services, to continue to help private landowners with plant conservation efforts. Bill is now working part-time as a file clerk at the Billie L. Turner Plant Resources Center at the University of Texas at Austin, the herbarium to which he contributed about 25,000 specimens during his field career.

At every meeting, we give away a book — about native plants or the meeting topic — to one randomly chosen in-person attendee!

Have an idea for a speaker? Let Program Leader Susie Hickman know via email to wilco-chapter@npsot.org.

NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public. We hope you attend! Meetings may be in person, virtual, or both, so be sure to check details in the meeting announcement. Meetings are announced on our website, our calendar and Facebook. See upcoming topics on our page Wilco Home or on our Calendar.

October 12, 2023

Congratulations to Kathy McCormack!

— by Nancy Copperman

Congratulations to chapter member Kathy McCormack!

On October 11, NPSOT announced that Kathy is a recipient of the Benny J. Simpson Fellows Award for 2023. This award is presented by the Society to a member for work that enriches the Society at the state or chapter level, recognizing service to the Society and embodying “grass roots” recognition of an awardee by their fellow NPSOT members. See NPSOT’s announcement of all 2023 awards at this link.

Among her many contributions to NPSOT and the Williamson County Chapter, Kathy has been instrumental in establishing and maintaining our interpretive plant signs program which provides native plant signs along trails in public parks and other locations in Williamson County. The signs include QR codes so the public can easily find additional information on a plant using a smartphone or tablet. She helped GPS all the plant sign locations for our maps and provided other info and updates for display in the county park kiosks.

Kathy helped whenever needed out in the field finding specimens for NLCP classes even though she was not on the NLCP committee. She has worked on numerous plant surveys over the years continuing up to the current work at Hidden Springs Preserve. Kathy has been a long time member of the field trip committee where we plan the adventures we offer to chapter members and the public. Any time she is needed, Kathy sees that a job is done.

Congratulations, Kathy, from all of us!

Nancy Copperman
President, NPSOT-Williamson County Chapter