Chapter
of the
Year
- 2002 -
- 2006 -
|
NPSOT Chapter of the Year - 2002 - - 2006 - |
| January 8 |
Shannon Smith Emeritus Director of Horticulture, Missouri Botanical Gardens This evening's program will also include members of the Carroll Abbott family who have discoverd original copies of Carrol Abbott's "How to Know and Grow Texas Wildflowers" book which we are anticipating to be on hand for sale at the meeting. Topic: Carroll Abbott Night |
| February 5 |
Kip Kiphart Kip Kiphart's interest in native plants is hereditary; he got it from his son Tim. Active involvement with the Native Plant Society of Texas, the Texas Master Naturalists and the Monarch Larval Monitoring Project have shaped Kip's perspective on land stewardship. "Monarchs Ask: What Is A Garden?" presents an eclectic approach to sustainable sub-urban/"sub-rural" gardening utilizing basic ecological principles. The presentation explores value judgments on gardening and wildlife, and encourages gardening for a purpose. Kip and June's butterfly - hummingbird garden is on the Cibolo Nature Center - Boerne NPSOT Tour of Yards. Topic: Monarchs Ask: What is a Garden? |
| March 4 |
Jackie Poole, Jason Singhurst Jackie Poole Jason Singhurst Their presentation will be followed by a book sale and signing of "Rare Plants of Texas", written by Jackie Poole, Bill Carr, Dana Price, and Jason Singhurst. This hot-off-the-press book is one of a kind! Topic: Rare and Endangered Plants of the Hill Country |
| April 1 |
Katherine Crawford Topic: Building Attractive Garden Enclosures |
| May 6 |
TBA Topic: TBA |
| June 3 |
TBA Topic: TBA |
| July/August |
No meetings scheduled. |
| September 2 |
Bill Ward Retired geology professor (Professor Emeritus, University of New Orleans) Bill Ward was the founding president of the Boerne Chapter of NPSOT and currently is co-VP of Education of NPSOT. Mr. Ward has also been a volunteer at the Cibolo Nature Center for many years. He is on the board of the Gorge Preservation Society, which is overseeing development of Canyon Lake Gorge, and teaches geology classes for the local Master Naturalist chapters. Topic: My Adventures with Big Red Kendall County has the largest wild populations of the rare Hill Country endemic Salvia pentstemonoides (big red sage). But the biggest recently known population is now all but extinct. Where has big red been and where is it going? |
| October 7 |
Lee Marlowe Natural Resource Management Specialist for the San Antonio River Authority Lee Marlowe will be presenting the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation project. This project, part of the San Antonio River Improvement Project, aims to restore ecological function to an 8-mile section of the River just south of downtown San Antonio. Lee received her Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology from the University of Minnesota, and has over eight years of professional experience on a variety of ecological restoration and management projects large and small. She is currently working on the adaptive management plan to guide operation and maintenance of the Mission Reach project. Topic: The Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project |
| November 4 |
TBA Topic: TBA |
| December 2 |
Winter social event. |
| January 9 |
Susan Sander Founder of Riverside Nature Center in Kerrville, TX Susan Sander of the Texas Forest Service in Kerrville will speak on alien plant invasion. The Texas Hill Country is noted for its native plant diversity, but introduced plants from all over the world are also settling in here. Susan will discuss some of these alien plants that have become adapted to our area. Sander, a native of Wisconsin, holds a BA degree in philosophy and a MA in environmental land-use planning. After founding Riverside Nature Center in 1987, she served as its education director for ten years. She authored the book "Treasury of Texas Wildflowers: The Botanical Watercolors of Marie C. Wesby" and has also served on several environmental committees for the City of Kerrville. Topic: Come to the Hill Country and See the World. |
| February 6 |
Mark Peterson San Antonio Water System Topic: Proper Watering of Landscape Plants |
| March 6 |
Sue Tracy Bandera NPSOT Chapter Sue has been a member of NPSOT since 1989 and has served as an officer of the Bandera Chapter. She has been involved throughout her life with a wide variety of non-profit organizations, ranging from a family foundation to a community art school to a public library. She built a new home in the Hill country in 1996 and landscaped it with plants native to the Edwards Plateau. In 2003, she was instrumental in landscaping the grounds of the Medina Community Library with 120 species of plants native to the Bandera area. In addition Sue is an airplane pilot of long experience. Topic: Thoughts on Landscaping with Native Plants |
| April 3 |
Raul Peña Raul Peña moved to Kerr County in 1996, upon retiring from a 28-year career with Shell Oil Company. Raul is an long-time woodturner and photographer, with a special interest in nature photography. The Virtual Herbarium, which began as a Hill Country Master Naturalist volunteer project, currently includes some 25 members providing images and detailed descriptions of native flora of the Hill Country. When complete, the project will contain over 20,000 images. Raul has created a search engine and a database to access this information in a user-friendly format. Topic: The Virtual Herbarium |
| May 1 |
Bob Webster TV show host and author Bob Webster has hosted the KTSA Garden Show on KTSA since 1991. His goal is for everyone to understand how easy it is to create colorful landscapes all twelve months of the year. Professionally, he has managed and owned retail nurseries since his college days at SMU. He ranches in Boerne and grows orchids, which he sells wholesale through his own company, Texas Orchid Company. Bob also owns and manages the Shades of Green Nursery in San Antonio. He is the author of "Gardening in South Texas" and enjoys taking the KTSA Garden Show on remotes where he can meet listeners and answers their questions in person. Topic: Actively Aerated Compost Tea |
| June 5 |
NPSOT-Boerne Chapter members Topic: "A Year in Review" and Show and Tell (photos of outstanding plants presented by our members) |
| July/August |
No meetings scheduled. |
| September 4 |
Lotus McElfish Botanical Illustrator Ms. McElfish is one of the growing community of artists who is dedicated to the contemporary renaissance of botanical art, updating an historically significant art form which played a vital role in documenting the discoveries of early European explorers. She is self-taught and currently is working in graphite and watercolors to illustrate the Rare and Endangered plants of the Texas Hill Country under a grant awarded to her in 2005 by the American Society of Botanical Artists. Lotus has shared her journeys of finding and creating plant portraits in a number of talks and slide shows including the Texas Plant Conservation Conference and the 2006 Annual NPSOT meeting. When Lotus finds a plant specimen, she documents it with location, date, growth specifications and identification. She often does a detailed sketch and takes a photograph to archive the plant’s information. She uses two dominant techniques, water-glazing and fracturing, in the completed plant portrait. If possible, she works from a live specimen either in her studio or in the field. Her renderings of a plant not only reproduce the reality of the plant in structure and form, but also illuminate the grace, textures and details that both educate and captivate the viewer. Lotus has done illustrations for numerous periodicals and books, shown in galleries around the Southwest and teaches botanical art and watercolor painting. The book she recommended for the library is "Contemporary Botanical Artists: The Shirley Sherwood Collection" by Shirley Sherwood. Lotus will also display and sign her plant portraits at the chapter's Fall event. Topic: Rare and Endangered Plants of the Hill Country - An Artist's Perspective |
| October 2 |
Chuck Janzow Boerne High School Science Teacher Mr. Janzow has been a science teacher at Boerne High School for about 30 years and was the chairman of the Science Department for many years. Chuck was one of the first volunteers at the Cibolo Nature Center (CNC) when it was getting started. He and his students did a lot of the early work on the Cibolo Wilderness Trails, among other projects. He has been a member of our NPSOT chapter since the beginning. A number of years ago Chuck's wife wanted to purchase some evergreen sumac bushes. Well, Chuck said he could grow them himself, which was the beginning of his plant propagation experimentation. He has since become a wholesale supplier of native plants, some that few nursery people attempt to propagate. Chuck has supplied many of the Hill Country nurseries with bigtooth maple trees. As a self-taught horticulturist, he is admired by his peers, and he gladly shares his knowledge with those of us committed to preserving and promoting the use of native plants. The book "Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country" by Marshall Enquist will be donated to the Boerne High School Library in Chuck's honor. Topic: The Culture of Bigtooth Maples - propagation from seed |
| November 6 |
Annette Venegas Educational Specialist for Elementary Science at Region 20 in San Antonio Prior to her current position as Educational Specialist, Ms. Venegas was the elementary science specialist for Judson ISD. Her interest in science goes back to her days as a seventh grade student when the wonders of the natural world were explored with an exceptional science educator. Since moving to Texas 10 years ago, she has spent a great deal of time exploring the wonders of the wildflowers. About three years ago, she was introduced to Texas soils, and now wildflowers and soils have become a passion. Sharing these interests with both formal and informal educators is a way to allow others to see the wonders Texas holds both above and below ground. The "Soil Biology Primer", Rev. 2000, published by the Soil and Water Conservation Society (in cooperation with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service) will be donated to the library in Annette’s honor. The Primer is a 4-color, 48-page publication that introduces the reader to the living component of soil and how that component contributes to agricultural productivity and to air and water quality. Topic: Soil/Plant Relationships |
| December 4 |
Winter social event. |
| January
3 |
Dr. Barron Rector Associate Professor and Extension Specialist with Texas A&M University Dr. Rector is with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service in the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management. Dr. Rector received his B.S. (1972) and M.S. (1976) in Biology (with an emphasis in Plant Taxonomy) from Angelo State University. He received his Ph.D. (1983) from Texas A&M University in Rangeland Ecology and Management. From 1973 to 1981, he served with Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in San Angelo, Texas. His professional experience is biology, chemistry, plant taxonomy, environmental ecology and range animal nutrition. Dr. Rector's current program responsibility include urban natural resource program development, rangeland seeding, grazing management, plant ID and youth programming. Dr. Rector's educational programming responsibilities focus on teaching rural and urban constituencies principals of ecology, range monitoring, how to evaluate biological interrelationships of ecosystems. These principals are taught by presentation, development of news articles, popular articles, videos, demonstration and on-site visits. Issues involving urban sprawl and the impact of man on the rangeland ecosystem is an important area of programming interest. Dr. Rector is recognized nationally and internationally for his plant identification skills, training workshops which include discussing poisonous plant issues, exotic, noxious weed management and plant materials important to agriculture and urban interests in native plants. He is also nationally and internationally known for his work with training youth about natural resources conservation and use, to include the development of youth leadership programs. Barron has received numerous awards for his ability to effectively communicate with clientele about the rangeland resource. Topic: Invasive Plants on Texas Rangelands |
| February
7 |
Patrick McNeal Pat McNeal is a recognized and well-respected expert in the landscaping and plant communities. Utilizing his skills as a plant hunter and propagator, he owns and operates a unique wholesale nursery in central Texas. His operation, McNeal Growers, produces many special, uncommon and new plant species that are used in urban gardens and in many diverse types of restoration projects. Because of the unusual nature of the plant materials grown by McNeal Growers, as well as Pat’s extensive knowledge of so many plant species, Pat is often called as a consultant on a broad range of projects. During the past 15 years, Pat has been chosen to conduct surveys of endangered species for the government and ecological studies for state park planning. In addition, he has created landscape restoration planning and designs for commercial development and public and private projects. In his work, Pat seeks to promote a deeper understanding of the roles plants play in modern urban development, emphasizing the appropriate, informed and thoughtful utilization of plant resources for more sustainable land use. Topic: Ecological Impact in the Texas Hill Country |
| March
7 |
Mark Klym Texas Parks & Wildlife Mark Klym is the coordinator of the Texas Hummingbird Roundup working for the Wildlife Diversity Program at Texas Parks & Wildlife. Trained as a biologist at Lake Superior State University, he followed the hummingbirds south in 1999. Mark is co-author of the book Hummingbirds of Texas. Join Mark for a workshop on "Creating Wildlife Habitat with Native Plants", on Saturday, March 25, at the Cibolo Nature Center. Topic: Hummingbirds |
| April
4 |
Minette Marr The Millennium Seed Bank Project (http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/msbp/) is an international collaborative plant conservation initiative. This worldwide effort aims to safeguard 24,000 plant species from around the globe against extinction. It has already successfully secured the future of virtually all the UK's native flowering plants. Topic: Kew Gardens' Millenneum Seed Bank Project |
| May
2 |
Brian and Shirley Loflin Commercial Photographer Brian Loflin is the owner of Loflin Images, a commercial photography company in Austin, Texas. Join Brian and Shirley Loflin on Wednesday, May 3, for a Spring grass walk at the Cibolo Nature Center. Topic: Native Grasses & Photography, plus book signing |
| June
6 |
NPSOT-Boerne Chapter members Topic: Show and Tell (photos of outstanding plants presented by our members) |
| July/August |
No meetings scheduled. |
| September
5 |
Carl E. Green Carl Green is a native Texan, and has resided in San Antonio since 1992. He is the Office Manager and Naturalist for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept. at Govt. Canyon State Natural Area (over 8600 acres) located in San Antonio. Carl has taken courses in natural resource management from Southwest Texas State University. His knowledge of native plants, however, is self-taught. His love of plants is evident in most of the things that he does--photography, guided hikes offered at nearby city and state parks, and the many volunteer hours he dedicated to projects as a Texas Master Naturalist volunteer. An admirer of the vast array of Texas native flora, he has gone to great lengths to design wildscapes at his home as well as for family homes, and ensured that Govt. Canyon SNA also offered a wildscape demonstration garden for visitors. He loves sharing his knowledge and continues to assist the San Antonio Urban Office of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department with teaching Continuing Education classes and presenting at Wildscape Workshops. Topic: Gardening in the Shade with Natives This presentation will define the various types of shade and will focus on an array of native plants, most available in the nursery trade, that do well in various shady conditions. Many will be surprised at how many shade-loving plants there are available to beautify a garden. |
| October
3 |
Dr. John Abbott Professor of Entomology, University of Texas Dr. Abbott is Texas' expert on dragonflies and damselflies. He will be presenting a slide show talk with photographs of many beautiful species that live right here in the Texas Hill Country. Topic: The Ecology of Dragonflies and Damselflies |
| November
7 |
Baxter Adams Baxter Adams is the owner of the Love Creek Orchards in Medina and his principal business is the propagation of the bigtooth maples as well as the management of several thousand dwarf apple trees. He and his wife Carol own and operate the Cider Mill in Medina. Baxter sponsored the development of the International Apple Fest in Medina and was instrumental in the creation of the Texas Apple Growers Association and the Apple Growers Marketing Cooperative. More recently they have sponsored The Great Hill Country Pumpkin Patch which last year drew about 15,000 people in October to Medina. The colorful story of a family enterprise have been the focus of considerable media attention. Baxter and Carol are the former owners of Love Creek Ranch which is near Lost Maples State Park and also has many beautiful maple trees. They began to propagate the maples from the time they bought the ranch and for some time they were the only people in the state growing them. They still are the largest suppliers in the state. Several years ago, they sold most of Love Creek Ranch to the Nature Conservancy of Texas. This is a second career for Baxter. He spent 30 years as a geologist in Houston in the oil and gas business before coming to the Hill Country in 1981. They now reside in Kerrville; however, you can usually find them during the day in Medina. They laughingly admit that their efforts to downsize usually leave them enough time to add something else. Topic: Why are there not more Bigtooth Maples in the Hill Country? |
| December
5 |
Winter social event. |