February 13 Chapter Meeting: “The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession” with Amy Stewart

Join NPSOT-Williamson County on Thursday, February 13, 2025, when our featured topic will be “The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession” with NYT best-selling author Amy Stewart.  Free and open to the public. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM.  The guest presentation begins after a short business meeting.

  • Please note:
    • Our guest speaker will be joining via Zoom.
    • This month’s presentation will NOT be recorded for YouTube*.

==> This month’s in-person location is 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/A_RDWrA4Qr2WIFIDHNRSiw#/registration

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About our topic:  When Amy Stewart discovered a community of tree collectors, she expected to meet horticultural fanatics driven to plant every species of oak or maple. But she also discovered that the urge to collect trees springs from something deeper and more profound: a longing for community, a vision for the future, or a path to healing and reconciliation.

In this 45-minute talk, Amy introduces audiences to several of the remarkable people she met from around the world whose lives were transformed by their relationships to trees. Accompanied by her own hand-drawn illustrations of people and their trees, this talk inspires audiences to reconsider their own connections to trees – and maybe start a collection!

About our speaker: Amy Stewart is the New York Times best-selling author of fourteen books, including The Tree Collectors, The Drunken Botanist, Wicked Plants, and several other popular nonfiction titles about the natural world. She lives in Portland, Oregon.


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


* If we have permission from our guest speaker, we record the presentation for our YouTube channel. (See a list of past topics at this link.)

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.

Field Trip: Native Texas Nursery, Wednesday, February 5, 2025

— by Kathy Galloway

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  • What:    Tour Native Texas Nursery (wholesale only, not open to the public)
  • When:  9:45 AM – 12:00 PM on Wednesday, February 5, 2025
  • Where:  Native Texas Nursery, 16019 Milo Road, Austin, Texas, but we will meet first — at 9:45 AM — to carpool. We’ll meet at the Quick Trip at the intersection of Texas 130 and Webberville Rd (FM 969)
  • Members and non-members are welcome! No RSVP is required.

We are thrilled to announce an upcoming field trip to Native Texas Nursery.  The nursery is not open to the public, which makes this tour an exclusive opportunity.  On our visit, we will be given a tour of the nursery where we will learn about various native species they grow and the techniques they use to cultivate them. 

We will meet at 9:45 AM at the Quick Trip located at the intersection of TX 130 and Webberville Rd (FM 969) to carpool to the nursery, because of limited parking and unpaved drive to the nursery.

Remember, this is about a 35-mile drive from Georgetown so plan accordingly to arrive on time.  The most efficient route is TX 130 to Exit 444 then left on Webberville Rd (FM 969).

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The Quick Trip is at the northeast corner of Texas 130 and Webberville Rd (FM 969).  

We look forward to seeing you on February 5 for what promises to be an enjoyable field trip to Native Texas Nursery.   You are invited to join some of the participants for lunch following the field trip.

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.

Apply for Monarch Garden Grants!

Forward to/share this post with your local school district, educational community and nature centers! For details, read the Society’s full announcement and click on the grant application.

If needed, the NPSOT-Williamson County Chapter has resources to help with the application (examples include plant lists and sources). Contact the chapter at wilco-chapter@npsot.org for help.


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Bring Back the Monarchs to Texas Grant Applications Now Open

Deadline to Apply: February 10, 2025

You can help save the Monarchs!

As their number declines and the species approaches threatened status, you can help save our iconic Monarch Butterfly. Plant pollinator gardens with native plants to provide the essential nectar that will fuel their up to 3,000 mile fall migration. Include native milkweeds to support the multi-generational spring migration.

Our Bring Back the Monarch to Texas (BBMT) garden grants can help with your efforts. Applications are now open for 2025 garden grants. 

The BBMT program awards grants up to $600 to nature centers, schools, educational groups and others to help fund development of Monarch demonstration gardens or Monarch Waystations using native plants on public sites in Texas. The purpose of this program is to educate members, applicants, and the public about Monarch conservation and native plants, and to encourage restoration of Monarch habitats throughout the Texas migration flyway.

The application process must be completed by February 10th, 2025, and awardees will be announced at the beginning of March. 


Grants are funded by Native Plant Society of Texas, Monarch Watch and by individual and corporate donations to the BBMT program. In 2025, additional funds through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation will be used to underwrite some of the garden grants. The Native Plant Society of Texas is grateful for everyone helping provide the funds to maintain our program.

In 2024, BBMT awarded 51 grants for a total of $29,700, delivered educational talks, helped tag Monarch butterflies with Monarch Watch, and distributed milkweed plants!

Questions – bbmt@npsot.org

Carol Clark, BBMT Committee Chair
Native Plant Society of Texas

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