NICE!™ Challenges and Achievements
We've had some real challenges to deal with as well as some major
successes!
Challenges
- Flexibility in Plant of the Month (POM) selections needed.
- Lack of sufficient quantities of great native plants due to
limited growers.
- Level of nursery participation varied.
- Crop failures, weather, and disease can limit the supply and
timing of normally available plants.
We've had to be extremely flexible in our plant selections.
Initially, we naively thought our requests for previously unavailable
natives would immediately influence growers to provide these uncommon
plants. We now realize that this process may take several years to
occur, or in some cases may not occur at all. We learned that many
plants were available a month before or after we anticipated their
availability due to variations in weather.
Nursery owners may be enthusiastic, but nursery staff may need
to be educated and coached.
NICE!™ materials may become lost and unavaliable to customers
within a short time after delivery to the nursery therefore the notebook
is helpful. There are many components to the program - volunteers can
get burned out
Accomplishments
- Going into 4th year without repeating.
- State Board of Directors of NPSOT recognized the program's
contributions to goals.
- NPSOT NICE!™ articles routine in local newspaper.
- Retail nurseries still participating.
- Others (San Antonio Parks Dept, Master Naturalists, Keep
Boerne Beautiful) are interested in NICE!™ project for water
conservation value, ease of landscaping and educational potential.
- Increased education of the greater Boerne community in using
natives as landscape plants.
- Spurred interest in NICE!™ in other communities, thereby
spreading its educational value beyond the Boerne area.
- Native plantings have helped to conserve water.
- Motivated nurseries to think more about the market for
native plants.
- Supported native plant growers.
NICE!™ has had an impact in Boerne and surrounding communities.
