Twelve NPSOT-Wilco members completed Plant Survey #12 at Hidden Springs Preserve!
Three areas of the preserve were surveyed; the unusual summer rain kept vegetation green through the summer.
Notable plants included Eryngo, Brazos Rain Lilies, White Rosinweed, Snow-on-the-Mountain, Dotted Gayfeather, Mintweed, and Velvet Bundleweed. A number of late summer grasses were identified and added to the plant list.
This was the last survey at Hidden Springs in the series of twelve field trips over the last three years to include a survey in each month of the year. A plant list will be maintained for the preserve, and future field trips will add any new species that are found there.
[Photo: Bee in Brazos rain lily, Sept 7 at Hidden Springs. By Cindy Chrisler.]
See photos from this field trip and others in our album=>
Join NPSOT-Williamson County on Thursday, October 10, 2024, when our featured topic will be “Building a Future With Flowers: Lewisville’s Sustainable Solution” with TJ Gilmore, mayor of Lewisville, Texas.Our guest speaker will be joining us via Zoom from Lewisville.
The meeting begins at 7:00 PM. TJ’s presentation will begin after a short business meeting. The meeting is free and open to the public.
==> This month, we meet at the Georgetown Public Library, 2nd Floor, 402 W 8th St, Georgetown, Texas 78626. Come early (6:30 PM) for expert advice, to check out the seed swap board, or just to visit.
About our topic: Want to know how to navigate getting your city leadership to invest in natives, avoid common political pitfalls, and identify several programs that can be replicated in your community? TJ Gilmore, mayor of Lewisville, Texas, will be providing all of that and more in his presentation.
About our speaker: Mayor TJ Gilmore is an Arizona native who’s been a Texas transplant since 2001. His service to the community stretches back to working on boards and commissions in 2004 until he was elected to city council in 2011 and became mayor in 2021. He’s married to his college sweetheart, has three recent college graduate children and can’t pass up watching a good Star Trek episode. TJ is always looking out for ways to leave the community better than he found it and loves how plants bring people together — even though he has a black thumb.
Blackfoot Daisy, Melampodium leucanthum. Photo by Bob Kamper.
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 [email protected].
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.
Our field trip is open to the public. The park’s entry fee is $3 per person.
Palmetto State Park is an unusual botanical area resembling the tropics more than Central Texas. Most notably, a stand of dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor) plants is found in the park’s ephemeral swamp. (The overview on the park’s website has a slide show with a short video.)
You will need to pay a $3.00 per person entrance fee at park headquarters (age 12 and under free). From there you will proceed and take the second left to park at the Refectory Building (CCC Pavilion). Ask for directions at park headquarters.
Dress appropriately for the weather. Wear long pants and closed-toed shoes. Bring water. Sun protection if needed.
Lunch is on your own. Some of the attendees will be stopping in Luling for lunch at Blake’s Café, 621 E Davis St, Luling, Texas.
=> Please register for the field trip by submitting the RSVP form at this link. Although there’s no limit on the number who can attend, we’re collecting RSVPs so we have an idea of how many and who in case we need to get in touch. If at the last minute you decide to come and you did not register, that’s okay. Come anyway!
Please feel free to contact the Field Trip Committee (contact form here) beforehand if you have any questions.
————– See photos from some of our previous field trips in our Field Trip Album.
