Tag: Central Texas

— by Cindy Chrisler

Seventeen NPSOT members and family attended the field trip to Museo Benini and Middleton Ranch on April 27, 2024.

The group began the day at Museo Benini outside of Marble Falls, where Lorraine Benini greeted us with enthusiasm and walked the grounds with us for over an hour, regaling us with tales of developing the property for wildflowers and a bird viewing area as well as a sculpture garden. In addition to meadows of firewheel, the group identified phlox, prairie milkvine, trailing rhatany, lazy daisy, purple threeawn, Texas thistle, Eve’s necklacepod, meadow pink, and more. The group also enjoyed a tour of the artist’s gallery before leaving.

About half the participants continued on to the ME Middleton Ranch in Spicewood to eat lunch and hike around a working cattle ranch. Gary Bowers spotted pointed sandmat, a member of the spurge family usually found further west in Texas. Highlights in the afternoon included larkspur, Drummond’s rain lily, antelopehorn milkweed, agarita in fruit, four nerve daisies, and Carolina woolywhite.

See field trip plans on our Home page.

— by Cindy Chrisler

• What:   Critchfield Preserve Field Trip
• When:  Saturday, May 18, 2024, 9:30 am to Noon (no entry after 9:45am)
• Where:  Critchfield Preserve, 801 CR 344, Jarrell, TX 78537
  • Directions: Take I-35 north to Exit 277 for CR 305. Go left under the interstate on CR 305 and in 2.3 miles turn right onto CR 344. The preserve entrance is about a mile down CR 344 on the left. You will be guided to a parking area. High clearance vehicles are not required.
• Our field trip is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
1) You must fill out a waiver for the Preserve (in addition to the NPSOT waiver that is signed at all field trips). Download the Preserve’s waiver at this link if you’d like to print and sign it ahead in order to save time at the start of the field trip.
2) Bathrooms are not available.
3) Be on time, as we will close the gates at 9:45am!  

Join us to tour this 100+ acre preserve in Jarrell that includes portions of Pecan Creek. There are no trails, and participants should dress for the weather, bring plenty of water, and use bug spray. We will hike around the preserve to places of interest as we look for unusual plants as well as the usual suspects. The terrain is mostly flat but there are rocks and the terrain may be uneven.

Above: photos provided by the Preserve.