Online Chapter Meeting Nov 12: “Managing a Native Landscape in an Urban Institutional Environment” with Justin Hayes

** ARCHIVED POST – LINKS AND IMAGES MAY NOT WORK**

[Post updated 11/3/2020 to add the Zoom link and 10/27/2020 to add more information about the topic. PD]

Join NPSOT-Wilco’s online chapter meeting on Thursday, November 12, 2020, at 7:00 pm, when guest speaker Justin Hayes will present Managing a Native Landscape in an Urban Institutional Environment.

You must register in advance to attend the meeting.  You’ll find instructions later in this article.

About the topic:  Now that I have managed the Dell/Seton Medical campus for 4 years, there have been many successes and failures. New techniques made and old techniques brought back into use. I will go through many of the different ways we manage, as well as I will try to include a good amount of pictures that show what my crew and the University are doing to increase sustainability and still have an award winning landscape.

image of person

About our speaker: Justin Hayes has been in the landscaping industry for 20 years. Starting at the University of Texas at Austin in 2008 as a gardener, he worked his way up to crew leader and eventually supervisor of the SITES Gold certified Dell Medical District landscape.   He and his team won the Texas Turf Association’s “Best Turf in Texas” contest in 2012 for their work on the campus’ University Avenue landscape.

He received his National Organic Farmers Association (NOFA) Organic Land Care Accreditation in 2017. In addition, he is Grow Green certified as well as Level 3 certified through the Native Plant Society of Texas.

In June 2020, Justin took over a larger part of campus in which the more sustainable methods from the Medical District will be implemented. Justin is now on his 3rd year of serving on the Employee Engagement Council.

Register to Attend

You must register in advance to attend, using the link below. After registering, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to join the meeting.


NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public. In this time of public health risk, our in-person meetings and field trips are canceled until further notice.

Check our blog announcements, calendar and Facebook for developing plans for virtual meetings and virtual field trips.

** ARCHIVED POST – LINKS AND IMAGES MAY NOT WORK**

Give a tree a new home on Thursday, October 22!

** ARCHIVED POST – LINKS AND IMAGES MAY NOT WORK**

— by Beth Erwin

This Thursday, October 22, is our last of our three Fall NPSOT-Wilco Plant Sale days.  We will be on 8th Street in downtown Georgetown, across from the Georgetown Library and Red Poppy Café from 10-2, in the Georgetown Farmers Market.

Our first two sales were very successful, but I have to admit I am disappointed.  You see, it is the best time of the year to plant trees.  And we have a wonderful selection of healthy native trees, grown right here in Central Texas.  And nobody is buying them.  So we are going to put them on sale.  Trees in 3/5-gallon pots that were priced at $30 will be $22 Thursday.

Folks, we need to be planting native trees.  Now some of you will say, “I won’t live long enough to see it grown.”  Don’t worry about that!

Recent studies reveal that we have lost nearly 3 billion birds since 1970.  We planted two trees in our grandchildren’s backyard this past year.  Within 5 days, a pair of cardinals had built a nest in one and laid three eggs.  Birds need trees.  Insects and other critters need trees.  Humans need trees.  Trees take in the carbon dioxide we produce in abundance and give us back oxygen.  They reduce the greenhouse effect.  They clean pollutants out of the air.  Their roots help clean the water percolating through the soil as it works its way to our aquifers.  They act as sound baffles.  They hide us from the neighbors.  They give us shade from the merciless Texas sun.

Has oak wilt killed your live oak trees? Are you weary of ornamental pear trees that smell like a wet dog or worse when in flower, split apart in a strong wind, and ruin your landscape plants with leaves that never decay?  Tired of crepe myrtles that are virtually useless to wildlife?

Come see us Thursday or contact us at the link shown below.  All our plants are hard-working native Texas plants.  They are the plants you should have in your plot of ground, here in the heart of Texas.

  • Read details about the Oct 22 sale and see our plant list at this link.
  • Reach me (Beth Erwin) with any questions or requests using the contact form at this link.
  • See you at the sale!
  • Beth Erwin

** ARCHIVED POST – LINKS AND IMAGES MAY NOT WORK**

NPSOT-Wilco Plant Sales on Oct 17, Oct 20 and Oct 22

** ARCHIVED POST – LINKS AND IMAGES MAY NOT WORK**

[On 10/19, this post was updated with plant list as of 10/19/2010. On 10/15, this post was updated with plant list as of 10/14/2020.  On 10/8, this post was updated with plant list as of 10/7/2020. PD]

— by Beth Erwin

It’s planting time, and we have the plants you need to be growing in your yard deep in the heart of Texas! 

Once again, the NPSOT-Williamson County Chapter will have a traveling plant sale at area farmers markets.  See locations and plants to be offered later in this post.  Our experts will be on hand to listen to your gardening issues and goals and offer advice honed from many years of growing experience.  Many of the plants we will have for sale are not available anywhere else.

There is no better way to learn our native plants than to grow them on your own property.   Native plants are the preferred choice of our birds, insects, and other critters for food and habitat.  They are adapted to better handle the extreme weather patterns we experience, and with careful choices and planning, can save you money in the long run. 

Money raised from our plant sales are our primary source of funds to continue our many projects.  Check out the many things listed under the menu item “What We Do” on our website to see the projects we are funding.  In addition to those listed, we are embarking on an ambitious effort to get more educational information available online to help you learn about native plants and their habitats in our area. 

There’s a file at end of this article listing the plants we intend to have available.  As we did in the spring farmers market sales, if you are seeking something NOT on this list, please ask.  We may be able to get it for you.  Please don’t ask that we hold back, reserve, or save plants for you that ARE on the list.  Plant availability is first come, first served.  You can reach me with any questions or requests using the contact form at this link.

Check out the sale dates and locations below.  I hope to see you there.

  • October 17, 2020, Saturday – Wolf Ranch Farmers Market.
  • October 20, 2020, Tuesday – Sun City Farmers Market.
  • October 22, 2020, Thursday – Georgetown Farmers Market.

Plants to be offered as of October 14, 2020 October 19, 2020

See the list in the window below and use the tools under the >> signs to download or print it, or you can find the same PDF at this link.   If we update the file, we’ll update this blog post to link to the new file (with the new date in the upper left on page 1).

Click to access Plant_Sale_List-10-19-2020.pdf

Changes in the list dated October 19 vs the previous list:

October 19, 2020 updates to the plant sale inventory list are:

  • The only new-to-the-sale item on the list is Plateau Goldeneye. We have it in 4″ and 3 gallon. We have restocked most of the plants we sold out of at Wolf Ranch, except Turk’s Cap and Black Dalea.

Changes in the list dated October 14 vs the previous list:

October 14, 2020 updates to the plant sale inventory list:

  • Deleted 1 gallon Yellow and Red Columbines–Aquiligea
  • Added:
    • Velvetleaf Senna, Senna lindheimeriana
    • Texas Red Oak, Quercus buckleyi
    • Mealy blue sage, Salvia farinacea
    • Henry Duelberg Mealy sage, Salvia farinacea ‘Henry Duelberg’

Changes in the list dated October 3 vs the original list:

October 7, 2020 updates to the plant sale inventory list:

  • New trees on the list:
    • 1 gal Quercus fusiformis, Texas Live Oak/Escarpment Oak
    • 1 gal Quercus polymorpha, Mexican White/Monterrey Oak
  • Removed from tree list:
    • 3 gal Juglans major, Arizona Walnut
  • New shrubs on the list:
    • 4” Aloysia macrostachya,  Wooly Beebrush
    • 1 gal Mimosa borealis, Fragrant Mimosa
  • New vines on the list:
    • 1 gal Passiflora lutea, Yellow Passionflower
    • 1 gal Lonicera sempervirens, Coral Honeysuckle
    • 1 gal Bignonia capreolata ‘Tangerine Beauty’, Crossvine ‘Tangerine Beauty’
  • New perennials on the list
    • 4” Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, Fall Aster
    • 1 gal Nolina texana  Texas Basketgrass/Devil’s Shoestring
  • Information on prices added at the end of the last page
  • See you at the sale!
  • Beth Erwin
  • Contact me using this link

** ARCHIVED POST – LINKS AND IMAGES MAY NOT WORK**