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 NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY OF TEXAS

Kerrville Chapter

Website:  www.npsot.org/kerrville

 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

October  2007

Special Opportunity

The Oct 2, 2007, meeting is a field trip to Cibolo Nature Center. Members and guests can meet at CNC at 2:00 PM or carpool from RNC at 1:15 PM.  See map below.

CIBOLO NATURE CENTER

Cibolo Nature Center
140 City Park Road
Boerne, TX 78006
Ph.: 830-249-4616

Located about 30 miles north of San Antonio, The Cibolo Nature Center is 100 acres of Hill Country trails and wilderness.

The center and its overseers, The Friends of the Cibolo Wilderness, are dedicated to promoting conservation of natural resources through education and stewardship.

 DRIVING DIRECTIONS FROM KERRVILLE:

Take I-10 East to Boerne.  Exit to HWY 46 (exit #540) and turn left on HWY 46.  Turn left on US 87/S. Main St./HWY 46.  Turn a slight right to HWY 46 East/River Road.  The road parallels Cibolo Creek.  Continue on HWY46 East for about 1 mile and turn right onto City Park Road (note:  If you reach the Kendall Country Fairgrounds, you have gone too far!).  Take City Park Road almost to the end and turn right into the Cibolo Nature Center.

 Upcoming Events

NPSOT, Kerrville Chapter

The program for the  Nov 6  meeting is Firewise Landscaping by Jan Fulkerson, Urban Wildland Interface Specialist from the Texas Forest Service. More information will follow in the November Newsletter.

 Still time to Make This

TOUR OF YARDS

2007 Tour Of Yards - Looking for Landscape Inspiration?

Look no further. The Cibolo Nature Center (CNC) and the Native Plant
Society of Texas (NPSOT) Boerne Chapter are hosting their annual Tour of
Yards event on Saturday, September 29, 2007, from 9AM until 4PM. This
event allows interested visitors to tour homeowner yards and view native
and adapted plants that do well in the Hill Country and South Central Texas.

Ten homeowners are opening their yards to visitors who share an interest
in promoting the use of native and adapted plants in their landscapes.
These successful xeriscape and wildscape yards will be open to the
public during this one day event. Tours and one-on-one discussions with
the owners who have developed and, in most cases actually completed the
work themselves, will be part of the offering.

The project is part of a collaborative effort of the CNC and the NPSOT
to demonstrate the many ways water-wise, low maintenance plants can be
successfully used in landscape design. By encouraging visitors to tour yards
that display various ways a homeowner can employ native  and adaptive
plants in the landscape, the Tour of Yards is intended to promote the
conservation of natural resources and local plant biodiversity through
education and stewardship.

Visitors to the yards are sure to be inspired by the butterfly gardens,
water features or backyard wildlife habitats. They also will have the
opportunity to learn first hand how they can use similar techniques in
their own yards.

Tour maps and directions are available on the
CNC  website (www.cibolo.org), at the CNC Visitor Center,
and at local sponsoring locations.

 A Special Message from Edna
The Library Garden

 The library garden has almost 40 different identified native plants and needs your help once a month. The next workday will be the Tuesday October 9 at 9:00 am. Workdays will be the second Tuesday morning of every month except during the winter.  We work for less than two hours.

The cactus and mainly shade garden are  located next to the back parking lot behind Butt-Holdsworth Public Library.  They have been maintained by the Kerrville Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas since the earliest days of the Kerrville Chapter. It is the only native plant area actively maintained by our chapter. The garden was originally developed to show people the wide variety of native plants that grow successfully in the Texas Hill Country. 

 Some of the less common natives include Missouri violets, rose pavonia (rock roses) and pigeon berry.  The trees include Texas persimmon, Texas mountain laurel, desert willow, evergreen sumac, Mexican buckeye and Texas redbud. Please stop and see the garden when you visit the library or are driving on West Water Street.

To keep this garden going, we need people who can participate in work days.  The City of Kerrville Parks and Recreation Department has agreed to assist with some of the heavier work such as removing dead cactuses and cutting some overgrown tree limbs.  We need people to plan, identify plants, make small signs, make a simple map of the garden and plan publicity.  And of course, we especially need people for weeding, planting, trimming and just making everything look beautiful.

 Can you help us keep this unique garden growing?  We hope to see you on Tuesday October 9 at 9:00 am. 

 Edna Platte

 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.

THANKS TO THOSE WHO RENEWED MEMBERSHIPS

See membership information above.

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