January 9 Chapter Meeting: “Creating a Native Seed Library in your Community” with Craig Bruska

Join NPSOT-Williamson County on Thursday, January 9, 2025, when our featured topic will be “Creating a Native Seed Library in your Community” with Craig Bruska.  Free and open to the public. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM.  The guest presentation begins after a short business meeting.

==> This month, we meet at the Georgetown Public Library, 2nd floor, 402 West 8th St, Georgetown, TX 78626. 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/tZAocu6hqDwuGd3UhMwoJnbOlAAIzd0hm42C#/registration

About our topic:  Craig’s talk will discuss how to create a native seed library within your community. From building local buzz and getting your library to partner on the project to establishing scientific and common name indexes and creating needed documents, as well as the benefits and the challenges.

About our speaker: Craig has had a lifelong love of nature from visiting scores of National Parks across the country on family vacations. During his 40-year career in construction, engineering, and facilities he worked for eight years for the Lake County (IL) Forest Preserve District overseeing the maintenance and construction of over 100 miles of multi-use county wide trails in the 35,000 acre preserve system. He oversaw the restoration over 1,000 acres of wetlands by removing field tiles. His crews battled invasive species from European Buckthorn to Purple Loosestrife.

Since moving to Texas in 2019 and settling into New Braunfels in 2020 he has worked to learn the plants of the Blackland Prairie and Edwards Plateau. This includes attending various lectures and symposiums on Native Texas Plants. He has also completed the Native Plant Society of Texas – Native Landscaping Certification Program and is a Texas Master Naturalist. Craig has helped create native seed libraries in Comal, Hays, and Guadalupe counties and is working on adding two more. He is also the NPSOT State Chair of the Native Seed Committee.

Bluebonnet seeds, Lupinus texensis
Bluebonnet seeds, Lupinus texensis

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.

Plant give-away at December 12’s in-person only Holiday Gathering & Silent Auction

— by Beth Erwin

We hope you join us at NPSOT-Wilco’s annual year-end gathering and silent auction, Thursday, December 12, 2024. Guests are welcome! Among the festivities is a plant give-away.

We’ll have Echinacea paradoxa (Yellow Coneflower), Chrysactinia mexicana (Damianita), Muhlenbergia lindheimeri (Big Muhley Grass) and Dalea greggii (Gregg’s Dalea). (Gregg’s Dalea and Big Muhley are in the same picture below.)

Plants already donated for the silent auction are Nolina lindheimeri (Lindheimer’s Nolina), Hesperocyparis arizonica (Arizona Cypress), and Zanthoxylum hirsutum (Texas Hercule’s Club).

In-person only! Check in begins at 6:30pm. The meeting starts at 7:00pm. We meet at the Georgetown Public Library, 2nd floor, 402 West 8th St, Georgetown, TX 78626.

  • Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be provided by the chapter. (No dinner. This is NOT a potluck.)
  • Bring your silent auction items! The auction is a fun way to pass along something you’re ready to part with while you bid on items you can’t resist.
    • We’ll have bid sheets available at the meeting for your items, or download them from this link and bring them along.
  • The chapter spending plan will be presented during a brief business meeting.

Field Trip: Native Plant Walk, Wednesday, January 1, 2025

— by Gary Bowers

  • What:    New Year’s Native Plant Walk
  • When:  10:00 AM – 12:00 PM on Wednesday, January 1, 2025
  • Where:  Round Rock’s Memorial Park, 600 N Lee St, Round Rock, Texas
  • Our field trip is open to the public.

The walk is about 2.0 miles on sidewalk and a developed pathway along the new Heritage Trail, which will someday be part of the Brushy Creek Regional Trail. The route will be two out and backs in succession (one going from the parking area to Mays St and one going from the parking area to Chisholm Trail and the namesake Round Rock) so folks can choose to only do half if they wish.

After the walk, folks are welcome to join some of the attendees at a restaurant downtown. We’ll make a post-walk decision but probably The Brass Tap or 600 Degrees Pizza as they both have seating for larger groups.

If you have questions, please contact the Field Trip Committee (contact form here).

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See photos from some of our previous field trips in our Field Trip Album.