Tag: native plants

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July 14 Chapter Meeting (in-person and virtual): Annual Meeting, 25th Anniversary and “Landscaping with Native Plants Series: Session #2, Gary Bowers’ Yard”

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This year is NPSOT-Williamson County Chapter’s 25th anniversary! 

Fireworks on black background

Celebrate with us at the chapter meeting on Thursday, July 14, 2022, at 7:00 PM.  We’ll recognize this great milestone and briefly cover annual chapter business before proceeding with our featured topic, Landscaping with Native Plants Series: Session #2, Gary Bowers’ Yard, presented by…. Gary Bowers!

Whether you attend in-person or via Zoom, our meetings are free and open to the public. (Trying to decide how to attend in July?  This month we have native plants to give away to in-person attendees and refreshments to celebrate our 25th.)

About our topic:  This month’s topic is the second session in a series called Landscaping with Native Plants which the chapter will lead over the coming months. On July 14, learn how one chapter member has embarked on a multi-year project to, in his words, “have a nicer view from the kitchen window.” This home is in Round Rock, east of I-35, in Blackland Prairie soils. Other topics in the series will be announced at a future date.

About our speaker and homeowner:  Gary Bowers grew up in northeast Tennessee and has always had a keen interest in nature and the outdoors — though he harbors a special passion for trees. Since moving to Central Texas in 2012, he has discovered the wonderful variety of Texas native plants. Gary is a past president of the NPSOT-Williamson County Chapter and has also served the chapter as an instructor for the chapter’s Native Landscape Certification Program (NLCP), a field trip leader, and more.  Gary works as a software developer in order to pay for new plants.

At every meeting, we give away a book — about native plants or the meeting topic — to one randomly chosen in-person meeting attendee and one Zoom attendee!

Bluebonnets, Lupinus texensis
Bluebonnets, Lupinus texensis

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NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public. We hope you attend!  Meetings may be in person, virtual, or both, so be sure to check details in the meeting announcement. Meetings are announced on our website, our calendar and Facebook.

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June 9 Chapter Meeting (in-person & virtual),”Gardening for Bats” with Erin Cord

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Join NPSOT-Williamson County on Thursday, June 9, 2022, when our featured topic will be Gardening for Bats with Erin Cord.   Free and open to the public. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM.

About our topic:  Erin will go over some bat basics and then talk about how you can help bats right in your own backyard by creating a bat garden!

Purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea
Purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea

About our speaker:  Erin Cord is the Community Engagement Manager for Bat Conservation International. She has been with BCI for almost 3 years and absolutely loves all things bats!  Erin got her undergraduate degree in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Delaware and her Masters in Wildlife Management from the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M Kingsville. Erin currently lives in Austin where she works to make her own yard a native plant and wildlife oasis.

At every meeting, we give away a book — about native plants or the meeting topic — to one randomly chosen meeting attendee!

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NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public. We hope you attend!  Meetings may be in person, virtual, or both, so be sure to check details in the meeting announcement. Meetings are announced on our website, our calendar and Facebook.

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

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May 12 Chapter Meeting (In Person and Virtual), “Riparian Management, Why Creeks Act the Way They Do” with Ricky Linex

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Join NPSOT-Williamson County on Thursday, May 12, 2022, when our featured topic will be Riparian Management, Why Creeks Act the Way They Do with Ricky Linex.   Free and open to the public. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM.

About our topic:  This presentation goes into the relationships of riparian areas to the uplands that provide water to the riparian areas and the importance of good land stewardship for the maintenance of healthy creeks and rivers. I will show several native riparian plants and discuss a strength rating of each plant as well as its wetland indicator rating which shows how much wetness a plant can tolerate. We will discuss what goes wrong when vegetation and landform cannot support the excessive amounts of water provided to the creeks, say from overgrazing or urban growth, and how erosion results. We will show how creeks can be restored by removing the hindrances that created the problem.

Ricky has provided a handout for his presentation (see this link) listing riparian plants of north central Texas including their strength ratings and wetland indicator ratings.

image of man

About our speaker:  Ricky Linex retired in 2021 as a wildlife biologist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service and works as a range and wildlife consultant. With NRCS, Ricky worked 52 counties in north central Texas covering the Rolling Plains, Cross Timbers, Blackland Prairie and Post Oak Savannah vegetational regions. He worked 38.5 years with NRCS in Goldthwaite, Snyder, Abilene and Weatherford. Ricky is the author of Range Plants of North Central Texas, A Land Users Guide to Their Identification, Value and Management, a plant identification book for Texas. Range Plants was recognized in 2015 as an outstanding publication by the Texas Chapter-The Wildlife Society, the Native Plant Society of Texas and the Texas Section-Society for Range Management.

At every meeting, we give away a book — about native plants or the meeting topic — to one randomly chosen meeting attendee!

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NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public. We hope you attend!  Meetings may be in person, virtual, or both, so be sure to check details in the meeting announcement. Meetings are announced on our website, our calendar and Facebook.

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