Field Trip Announcement: Sun Oct 10, 10:00am, Booty Road Park, Georgetown

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— by Gary Bowers

Image of river
View of San Gabriel River from Booty’s Rd Park. Photo by G. Bowers.

Open to the public, Fall 2021 Symposium Field Trip.  Location: 1631 Booty’s Park Road, Georgetown, TX 78628.  Join us for a hike as we conclude the Fall 2021 Symposium. This walk is open to the public (you do *not* have to be a NPSOT member nor a symposium attendee). Booty Road Park Trail is a 2.4 mile moderately trafficked “out and back” trail that offers scenic views and is good for all skill levels. The trail is a combination of paved and unpaved, some up and down elevations, parts densely shaded, with good bird watching opportunities including a vulture’s roost.

We expect to see Cedar elm, Ashe juniper, Live oak, Osage orange, Hackberry, Greenbriar, Boxelder and Mexican buckeye.  We will turn around at Weir dam, a sunny spot with Switch grass, Bushy bluestem and Dewberry.

Free entrance, lots of parking, restrooms available.  No RSVPs required! Masks are optional.

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Ricky Linex and the Sept 25 NPSOT-Wilco Fall Native Plant Sale

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— by Beth Erwin

We are excited to announce we will have a guest star with us for our fall plant sale on September 25, 2021 at Berry Springs Park & Preserve (inventory news later in this post).  Ricky Linex, author of Range Plants of North Central Texas will be on hand during our sale.

Ricky’s book is an indispensable manual for landowners in central Texas. Identifying the plant is one thing. The excellent photos help you there. But understanding why a plant is or isn’t there, and how that affects your management goals is information not easy to come by. We will have a limited number of copies available for sale at $25 each and Ricky will be happy to sign them, or your already-acquired copy.

In addition to being on hand to answer questions, Ricky will lead two walks on the park grounds. The first walk will start at the Birthday Pavilion at 9AM. The second walk will be at 11AM. Walks are limited to 15 people.

At 1PM, Ricky will speak at the Tonkawa Pavilion on “Native Plants, Pollinators” and “Thanksgiving, a Time for Reflection, Appreciation and Thanks.” He will discuss the importance of native plants for livestock forage, native plants for all species of wildlife and how pollinators are so vitally important for the survival of flowering plants.

We are aware that we have lots of new landowners with questions about how to manage their land for the love of Texas and the rest of the planet. We also have folks who have acquired land with the intention of homesteading with the same ideals. It is our hope that they will take advantage of having an expert on hand for the day and come with their questions. If you know someone like that, pass on this information.

About the sale

The NPSOT-Wilco plant sale will be held September 25, 2021, at Berry Springs Park & Preserve, 1801 Co Rd 152, Georgetown, TX 78626 in the Main (Tonkawa) Pavilion.  10:00 AM—3:00 PM.  (Note that Ricky’s first walk begins at 9AM.) Cash, checks, and major credit cards accepted.  We prefer that all customers wear masks and maintain social distance.

Plants to be offered

We have an initial list of plants to be offered at the sale.  Find the current list at this link.  If we update the list, we’ll send a new blog post out to alert subscribers.

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Report from Hidden Springs Preserve

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— by Kathy Galloway

Saturday early morning on July 10…    It started with lots of rain, but 16 intrepid plant people braved the elements and it did not dampen their enthusiasm.  Everyone headed to Hidden Springs Preserve for this month’s field trip.

We divided into two groups and surveyed about one half-mile along the driveway of the first 300 acres of this total 900-acre property.  We found a diverse group of plants to identify on the limestone cut plains soil.  Due to the July rains lots of plants were still in bloom, including Mountain Pinks in abundance and Wooly Iron Weed. We found many new plants and some that still need to be identified.  We saw White Rosinweed and we had not found this particular plant in any of the other Williamson County Parks.

This was our second of twelve field trips to this preserve. We will visit this property every calendar month of the year.   It may take 2-3 years to complete the entire plant list.  When we have a date for the next trip to Hidden Springs, we’ll announce it in a blog post and on Facebook, and we’ll put the information on our Field Trip web page.  (And remember, people with all levels of experience and inexperience are welcome!)

You’ll find photos from the July 10, 2021 field trip to Hidden Springs at this link in our Field Trip Album on Google Photos.

You can download the current version of the plant list at this link (or navigate to it via Photos-> Plant Surveys-> Hidden Springs Plant List).

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