NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY OF TEXAS
Kerrville Chapter

FEBRUARY 2003 NEWSLETTER

NATIVES ON THE GROW
Dedicated to the understanding, preservation and enjoyment of the native flora of the Hill Country
February Program:  Aliens in Our Midst

Susan Sander, founder of Riverside Nature Center, will speak on alien plant invasion at our February meeting.  The title of Susan’s presentation is "Come to the Hill Country and See the World."  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.

Susan, 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.  For the past eleven years she has written a column, ECO-Notes, for the Kerrville Daily Times.  She recently authored a book, Treasury of Texas Wildflowers: The Botanical Watercolors of Marie C.  Wesby.  Susan has served on several environmental committees for the City of Kerrville.

Many plants have been introduced into the Hill Country beginning with the settlers and continuing through the years by the nursery trade.  Susan, while at Riverside, found that visitors to the area thought many of our plants were "natives" because they had adapted and were growing on their own.  Birds and animals are great spreaders of seeds from introduced plants like Chinese tallow and wax-leaf ligustrum.  Although not all introduced plants are bad characters, many have become invasive and compete with our native plants.  Susan will discuss the impact of these invasive plants on our native plant populations.

See you there!

Calendar

Tuesday, February 4th at 2 PM “Come to Hill Country and See the World” by Susan Sander at NPSOT-Kerrville meeting held at Riverside Nature Center (RNC)

Wednesday, February 5th at 9 AM:  Gardening at the Kerrville Library Native Plant Garden

REMINDER:  Kerrville Library Garden Monthly Workday is now the Wednesday after our regular NPSOT meeting at 9 AM at the Kerrville Public Library.  Come help take care of this native plant display garden.  This month’s activities will include repairs to the drip irrigation system.  Call John Quinby at 367-4612 for more information. 

Please join us at the Library Native Plant Gardens!!!

New Chapter Website at http://www.npsot.org/kerrville

Our Chapter website has undergone a major renovation!  Our website is now hosted by the NPSOT state organization, and substantially more native plant information has been added by our new Webmaster, Raúl Peña.

Highlights include:

1.  Our Chapter’s brochure, “Recommended Native Plants for Hill Country Landscaping”, is now online, including common and botanical names, descriptions and cultural requirements.  These plants are arranged by categories (trees & shrubs, grasses, perennial wildflowers etc.).

2.  The “Wildflower Checklist” is arranged by botanical family.  Many of these native plants have been found on Raúl and Sandy Peña’s land (33 acres).  Photographs are included for many of these plants, along with descriptive information.

3.  Useful links provide further native plant information from state agencies (Texas Forest Service), universities (TAMU), botanical centers, nature centers, and sources for native plants and seeds.

Our website can also be accessed from the state website, http://www.npsot.org, via “Chapter Information”.  It is then also possible to learn about the activities of other chapters all across Texas, including meetings of interest at nearby chapters. 

We want to thank Raúl Peña for all his hard work that made this website possible.  Visit our new website and enjoy!

Welcome to our New Member  Carol Biggs

Please send any suggestions or comments on this newsletter to the Editor:  Priscilla Stanley at jpbstan@ktc.com