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Program Summary: Sep 12, Getting Started with Texas Native Plants Panel

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— by Randy Pensabene

On Sept 12th, we held a discussion panel on “Getting Started with Texas Native Plants”. Members and guests were treated to a panel of local NPSOT members who have experience working with and teaching others about native plants.

A few days before the meeting, a survey was sent to solicit questions. These questions were included in a step-by-step ‘how-to’ overview presentation. Additional questions were taken during the meeting.

The presentation covered:

  • how to plan a landscape
  • prepare your bed
  • select and install native plants
  • plant establishment and maintenance

The panel discussion also covered three different methods of killing lawn grass to create a bed area for planting. Our handout gave everyone specific information on the processes presented and included recommended websites and books to find more information.

So, whether you were new to the area and wanted to know what to plant, were looking for ideas on different native plants to work with, or had a burning question regarding native plants, or just wanted to know more about the Texas Native Plant Society, your needs were addressed.

You can see the August 12, 2019 business presentation slides here.

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(Soon to be) In the News

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— by Kathy McCormack

Members of the NPSOT Wilco field trip team meet with a Wilco Sun reporter.

Several chapter members met a Williamson County Sun newspaper reporter at Champion Park on September 20, 2019.  The reporter wanted to see examples of our chapter’s interpretive plant signs, and learn more about native plants, what we do, and how people can help.  Expect an article in the Sun next Wednesday, September 25, 2019 – they don’t have a website, so you’ll have to buy a hard copy !

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On October 10: “Unnatural Texas” with Robin Doughty and Matt Warnock Turner

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— by Gary Bowers

Learn about invasive species in Texas, their history, and the issues when Robin Doughty and Matt Warnock Turner present the program topic “Unnatural Texas” at the next NPSOT-Wilco chapter meeting on Thursday, October 10. We meet at the Georgetown Public Library.

In their recently published book,  Unnatural Texas? The Invasive Species Dilemma, Robin and Matt investigate the problems posed by so-called invasive species. These non-native plants and animals are increasingly affecting the economic, medical, and ecological health of Texas. Their new book is both a primer and a “think piece.” Drawing upon a representative sample — from across the state and over five centuries — of approximately 20 non-native species (including mammals, birds, fish, insects, mollusks, trees, water plants, and fungi), they introduce readers to Texas’ “big hitters,” discuss a range of arguments for controlling them, and explore how culture and shifting attitudes influence their management.

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Robin W. Doughty, a Yorkshire-born Geographer, who received his PhD from University of California Berkeley, has been on the UT faculty for more than 40 years. Robin has a longstanding professional and personal interest in wild animals, environmental change, and conservation. He has authored over 10 books on such subjects as the feather trade, the recovery of the endangered whooping crane, the mockingbird, the purple martin, the armadillo, the eucalyptus tree, and more recently the international steps being made to conserve albatrosses. He continues to travel the world extensively and lecture on physical geography, cultural history, and wildlife.

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Matt Warnock Turner, a fifth-generation Texan, is a naturalist, teacher, and free-lance writer who works as a market researcher at UT’s McCombs School of Business.  Son of a well-known botanist, he applies his humanities training (PhD in literature from Yale) to enrich our understanding of the plant kingdom around us.  He has published both scientific and popular works, including the award-winning, Remarkable Plants of Texas (2009).He’s twice appeared as a guest on PBS’s “Central Texas Gardener” and starred in the PBS documentary, “Wildflowers:  Seeds of History.” We welcome Matt back as a returning speaker. Matt presented “Remarkable Plants of Texas” at our January 2015 chapter meeting.

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NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public.

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