NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY OF TEXAS
KERRVILLE CHAPTER

 NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY OF TEXAS

Kerrville Chapter
Website:  www.npsot.org/kerrville

May, 2008

 NATIVES ON THE GROW

Dedicated to the understanding, preservation and enjoyment of the native flora of the Hill Country

The Kerrville Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas holds monthly meetings on the first Tuesday of the month (September through June) at Riverside Nature Center, 150 Francisco Lemos St. in Kerrville.  These meetings are free and open to the public.

Special Invitation

May 6, 2008

Field Trip to Hunt School Discovery Gardens

(Recipient of NPSOT grant)

followed by

Tour of Native Plant Gardens

Home of Bill and Trish Stone

Limited to Members and Invited Guests

The Plan:  Two Options

#1 Meet at the Riverside Nature Center at 1:00 for directions and car pool opportunities.

#2 Meet at the Hunt School Gardens at 2:00

         Directions to Hunt School Gardens:

        Take Highway 27 to Ingram.  Take Highway 39 to Hunt. Turn right at the Hunt Store on

Dutch Lane.  This dead-ends at the school. Turn left and follow the road around behind the school. The  gardens cannot be missed.

Following the school gardens tour, we will proceed together to the Stone home located in Hunt in Canyon Springs.

A brief meeting will allow for election of officers for 2008-09.

Refreshments will be offered on the veranda overlooking the gardens. The tour is an easy walk on defined paths.

This is a unique opportunity to see the native plant philosophy in actual practice.

We greatly appreciate this generous opportunity and thank Trish and Bill very much for opening their home and gardens.

Questions: Please call Edna Platte 257-2185 or Cynthia Johnson 895-5173

 
ELECTION OF CHAPTER OFFICERS FOR 2008-2009
Election of 2008-2009 officers will be held at the May meeting. The nominations are:
 President – Edna Platte
VP – Programs – Anne Moss
VP – Outreach – Adele Junkin
Secretary – Cindy Anderson
Treasurer – Jerry Brown
Director of Membership – Mike Mecke
Director of Communications – Marilyn Butcher
Director-at-Large – Scott Magee
 Thanks again to nominating committee members Melinda Wasson, Otis Fox, and Howard Platte.

 Earth Day Plant Sale

 The Earth Day Plant Sale held at Riverside Nature Center was a great success.  The weather was perfect and the plants were almost all sold.

 The profit from this sale is evenly split between Riverside Nature Center and the Kerrville Chapter of Native Plant Society of Texas, Kerrville Chapter.  NPSOT uses the funds for grants to community organizations to purchase and/or promote the use of native plants.  Application forms for a grant are available through NPSOT. 

NPSOT members did a great job with the plant sale.  Many of you worked during the plant sale as cashiers, plant docents, donating plants and many other jobs.  Thank you for everything that you did.  You are all needed to make this annual sale a success.

Library Garden

 Library Garden workday is Tuesday morning, May 13.  I will plan to be there at 8:00 am until 10:30.  Bring clippers, good shoes, a hat and other useful garden tools.

The Native Plant Garden is located behind Butt-Holdsworth Public Library near the meeting room.  A metal sign indicates that NPSOT maintains the garden.

Good news:  The hackberry tree that overlooked the garden has fallen—thanks to natural causes.  This means that in the future there should have fewer baby hackberry trees growing in the native plant garden.  The tree fell on a bed that included salvias, rock roses and other perennials.  Kerrville’s Parks and Recreation Department cut up the tree and hauled it away.  It appears that most of the plants will recover.  Parks and Recreation also hauls away the “yard trash” that we generate at our workday.

This is a good opportunity to learn more about caring for native plants.  Hope to see you there.

Edna Platte

UPCOMING EVENTS AT RIVERSIDE NATURE CENTER

1.  Saturday May 17, from 10 to 11 a.m.,  "An Introduction to Bats," presented by Nyta Hensley, Manager of Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area,
home to as many as 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats every summer.  Come learn about these fascinating but misunderstood "critters" who help farmers control millions of insect pests.  Learn about the life-cycle of bats, how bats use echolocation to navigate, and more.  This program is for adults and children.
Cost:  $5.00 per adult/ $2.50 members.  Kids 12 and under are free.
 
2.  Saturday June 7, from 10 to 111:30 a.m., Kip Kiphart will present, "Monarchs Ask:  What is a Garden?" Would you like to attract butterflies and birds to your garden?   Kip will talk about basic ecological principals that help make a sustainable garden, living and nonliving things that influence a garden, the "butterfly ecosystem,"  and the monarch butterfly.  If you would like to plant a butterfly -  hummingbird garden and create a Monarch Waystation, this program is for you.   Kip and June Kiphart's butterfly- hummingbird garden is on the Cibolo Nature Centeer-Boerne NPSOT Tour of Yards.  Dr. Kiphart is active in Native Plant Society of Texas, the Texas Master Naturalists and the Monarch Larval Monitoring Project.
Cost:  $5.00 per adult/ $2.50 members.  

 PLANT IDENTIFICATION CLASSES

The Hill Country Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists will again be holding Native Plant Identification Classes this spring.  NPSOT members and Master Gardeners are welcome to attend.  Details below:
 
On Saturday May 10, from 9 to 12 at Riverside Nature Center, Jim Stanley will teach Native Tree and Shrub ID.  The Grass ID class will be sometime later in the summer, but has not yet been scheduled.  If you are a NPSOT or MG member, but not a Master Naturalist, please e-mail Jim Stanley at jstmn@ktc.com <mailto:jstmn@ktc.com> in advance if you are planning to attend any of these classes.
 

Looking ahead

June 3 Wildflower Presentation and guided nature walk lead by Marshall Johnston, botanist and author.

Special note: The new Board for Kerrville NPSOT will consider proposed time changes for the meeting schedule for next year.

NICE (Natives Instead of Common Exotics) Program Coming to Kerrville

Beginning in the fall, the Kerrville NPSOT and Plant Haus II, a Kerrville local nursery, will be joining with the Fredericksburg native plant group and a local nursery to encourage planting native plants through a special quarterly plant focus. Watch for information and join in the effort!

Special Welcome to Barbara Stidham, new RNC Executive Director

.Helpful hints about membership dues

Membership dues cannot be accepted locally.  They must be sent to the State Office which is now in Fredericksburg at the following address.

Native Plant Society of Texas

P.O. Box 3017

Fredericksburg, TX 78624

 The membership form is available at chapter meetings and the NPSOT website www.npsot.org.

When completing the form please indicate the Kerrville chapter name because our chapter gets refunded a portion of the dues for our chapter expenses.

If you are renewing your membership, please send your renewal to the address above and include your membership ID to ensure we credit the correct account.
Also include any address, phone or email changes.
(You will find your membership ID printed on the mailing label of the state newsletter.)

Membership Categories and Annual Dues:

 Benefits of Joining the Native Plant Society of Texas

Goals:

    To educate both its members and the general public and to foster a greater awareness and understanding of our native flora;
    To preserve rare and endangered species and their habitats;
    To encourage landscaping with appropriate native plants, for their beauty, ease of maintenance, and water-conserving qualities;
    To protect, conserve and restore native plants threatened by development;
    To encourage the responsible propagation of native plants;
    To promote an appreciation and understanding of current, historical and potential uses of native plants.

 A number of folks renewed their memberships this month. Many thanks to all.

See membership information above.

Special Welcome to new member:

Peggy Robinson 

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