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News from The Williamson County Conservation Foundation:
The Williamson County Conservation Foundation (WCCF) is hosting a Leave No Trace classe on Wednesday, October 5, 2022. Participants obtain a pass allowing access to preserve trails. Find details about the class and how to register using this WCCF link => Leave No Trace registration.
“Leave No Trace” is a program by the Center for Outdoor Ethics. The training allows participants to hike, bird watch and enjoy Williamson County preserves, such as Twin Springs Preserve and Beck Preserve.
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— by Vicky H.
On April 9, 2022, the Williamson County Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) hosted a booth during the annual Family Nature Fest held at Garey Park in Georgetown, Texas. This annual event, originally to celebrate Earth Day, took a hiatus during the pandemic but came back with renewed excitement on a sunny and windy Saturday.
Future NPSOT members?
Geared towards the kids in attendance, our blue tent was set up in a mowed field near the Play Ranch and Equestrian Center. This new location opened with a nature poetry walk and continued around a semicircle with booths sporting ways to get closer to nature, including native plants, master naturalists, outdoor enthusiasts, Balcones Canyonlands, and the quintessential pony rides, tortoises, owls, opossums and a menagerie of snakes!
Susie and Vicky
Our fearless volunteers (thank you, Susie Hickman, Marcia Wutke, Vicky Husband and Beth Erwin) alternated handing out starts of Cowpen Daisy-Golden Crownbeard (Verbesina encelioides) with chasing flying sheets of stickers, brochures and plant lists. The 250 plant starts were introduced to the kids as a great monarch butterfly nectar source, and billed as a tough and showy plant for planting directly into the yard. The parents loved the grab-and-go aspect of the plant starts, and many showed serious interest in expanding their knowledge of native plants for use in their home landscapes. Grown by Wright’s Nursery in Briggs, Texas, all starts were handed out by the end of the event!
Take-aways from this educational event include a definite “yes” for attending future Family Nature Fests due to the success of the outreach: the volume of families in attendance, the excitement of new homeowners and young gardeners at the formative point of their learning, while keeping in mind the elementary school age of the kids and their dual interest in attracting pollinators and growing flowering native plants.
Thank you to everyone who helped to make our booth a success – a great event for our chapter!
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Chapter member Randy Pensabene is the guest speaker at Sun City Georgetown’s Nature Club meeting on March 15. The club is inviting NPSOT members and blog subscribers to attend.
From The Nature Club, Sun City Georgetown, TX: Special Invitation! Tuesday March 15, 2022, 2:30 p.m.
Topic: Top Native Plants of Williamson County Speaker: Randy Pensabene
Randy will discuss the top native plants where we live, focusing on deer resistant plants. In addition, she will discuss two upcoming sales featuring native plants. You will learn about our great native plants and where you can purchase native plants locally for your spring planting. Also, there will be a number of native plants given away as door prizes!
(This is not a NPSOT event.)
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