Tag: pollinator garden

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In Person AND Virtual Chapter Meeting November 11: Restoring Habitat in Texas to Protect Our Native Pollinators, with Sean Griffin

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Join NPSOT-Wilco on Thursday, November 11, 2021, at 7:00 pm,  when Sean Griffin will present Restoring Habitat in Texas to Protect Our Native Pollinators.  This meeting will be held both in person and online via Zoom.

About our topic:   Bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are declining worldwide, due in large part to the loss of their native habitat. In his presentation, Dr. Griffin will talk about his research into how ecological restoration can be used to protect these important pollinators in Texas, and discuss ways that you can encourage diverse communities of beneficial insects on your own land.

About our guest speaker:  Dr. Sean Griffin is a restoration ecologist broadly interested in wild bee conservation, fire ecology, and the recovery of degraded grasslands. He earned his PhD in 2019 from Michigan State University, where he used experimentally restored habitats to study bee movement across fragmented landscapes. In the Jha Lab at UT Austin he is now examining how prescribed burning and other forms of restoration management affect plant and pollinator communities in Texas prairies. Sean is also very interested in community engagement, and is actively involved in environmental education, citizen science, and pollinator-focused outreach. You can learn more about Sean’s work at his website srgriffin.com.

image of Skipper and bee on Pickerelweed, Pontederia cordata
Skipper and bee on Pickerelweed, Pontederia cordata

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

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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Online Chapter Meeting September 9: The NEST Empowerment Center’s Butterfly Garden with Bebe Johnson

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Join NPSOT-Wilco online on Thursday, September 9, 2021, at 7:00 pm,  when Bebe Johnson will present The NEST Empowerment Center’s Butterfly Garden. You must register in advance to attend.  Register at https://npsot-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvd-uoqzsoEtQv39dZMl_g5ZuVNRSRHMmM.

The NEST Empowerment Center is part of The Georgetown Project, a local nonprofit providing services that support their mission:  “A community where no child is hungry, hurt, alone, or rejected, and where all children and youth believe they are loved, respected and treated with dignity.”  The NEST Empowerment Center helps GISD high school students who are homeless, at-risk, or living in transition.

At this month’s meeting, The Georgetown Project’s Bebe Johnson will share information about their collaboration with NPSOT-Williamson County to create The NEST Chrysalis Dreamscape, located at The NEST Empowerment Center as part of its SPARKS patio.  The collaboration began in 2019.  (Some background from our chapter can be found here.)

Bebe has been The NEST Empowerment Coordinator since 2014. Previously, she worked at WilCo Juvenile Services as the Coordinator of a county-based Truancy Diversion program serving 9 school districts. Prior to that position she worked for LifeSteps, Williamson Council On Drugs, as a Prevention Director, Coalition Director and Interim Executive Director.

Bebe is a native of Eastern Williamson County and lives on the small ranch where she grew up. She is the proud owner of 2 mules, cows, chickens and dogs.

Gregg's mistflower, Conoclinium greggii
Gregg’s mistflower, Conoclinium greggii

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

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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Thank You to Pollinator 2021 Volunteers

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— by Marilyn Perz

The Landfill Pollinator Garden says thank you to all the volunteers who came out on a drizzly, cold Saturday to weed and do winter maintenance.

image of people working on planting bed
Photo by Marilyn Perz.

On Saturday April 3, 2021, over 20 members of our Williamson County NPSOT Chapter and the Goodwater Master Naturalists came to work on the Landfill Pollinator Garden. For over 3 hours, these hardy and dedicated folks worked in the drizzle and wind to create a giant mound of recyclable plant material but also to ready the garden for spring. Waste Management has been a partner in this Pollinator Garden since 2012 and they will take our pile of debris for recycling.

image of bluebonnets
Photo by Marilyn Perz.

The Landfill Pollinator Garden is at the corner of FM 1660 and Landfill Road, in Hutto just across the street from the Recycle Center at 101 Landfill Road.  The garden is always open to the public.  If you visit during the Recycle Center hours of 7:30am-5pm, excluding their lunch from 12:30pm-1pm, you can ask to park in their lot and not on the busy road.  They are also there 7:30am-Noon on Saturday and closed on Sunday.

This year the Bluebonnets on the berm are making quite a show and might even be a good background for your family Bluebonnet picture.  Please step carefully and preserve them for the next family.

image of large native plant garden

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