NPSOT-Williamson County Chapter
Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT-Wilco)
Volunteer for the children’s Native Plant Workshop at the Leander Public Library.
The program is a Native Plant Hands-on Workshop for 40 to 50 homeschoolers in kindergarten through 5th grade.
Set-up starts at 12:30. The workshop is 1-2:30 p.m.
Sign up by completing the volunteer form at this link.
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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.
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!
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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Enjoy the festivities at Garey Park’s Family Nature Fest on Saturday, April 9, 2022 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. This Georgetown Parks & Recreation event focuses on connecting families with nature through a variety of activities, demonstrations and environmental education.
At the festival, NPSOT-Williamson County Chapter’s booth will promote Texas native plants through education, outreach and example!
We’ll hand out small plugs of native plants as our kid’s activity (with a plant info card for the parents so they can successfully plant at home) and copies of our Garey Park Plant List for natives found in the park. (Vicky Husband has lined up our booth volunteers, but if you have any questions, please send an email to wilco-chapter@npsot.org and we’ll get it to Vicky.)
Garey Park entrance fees are required to get into the park, but the Family Nature Fest activities are free unless noted otherwise. Find Georgetown Parks & Recreation details at this link=> https://parks.georgetown.org/family-nature-fest.
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