NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY OF TEXAS
Kerrville Chapter
Website:  www.npsot.org/kerrville

 September, 2006 Newsletter

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.  If you have any questions about the Native Plant Society of Texas, or this program, please call Cynthia Johnson at 895-5173.

 September   5

NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY PROGRAM ON HILL COUNTRY RARE PLANTS

Rare Plants of the Texas Hill Country will be presented at the Native Plant Society of Texas, Kerrville Chapter on Tuesday, September 5.  The meeting will be held at Riverside Nature Center at 2:00 pm.  Jackie Poole, senior botanist with Texas Parks and Wildlife Division will discuss rare and endangered plants that occur naturally in the Texas Hill Country.  Habitat information, recovery actions for the most overlooked rare species as well as extensive photographs will be included in this talk.  Visitors are encouraged to attend Native Plant Society meetings, and all interested in Hill Country plants will find this talk of special interest.
 
Jackie holds  B.A. and M.A. degrees in botany from the University of Texas in Austin.  She is a taxonomist by training and worked several years curating the herbarium collections at Harvard and UT-Austin.  She is extensively published in her field.  At present she works with the Wildlife Diversity Program at TPWD.  She is primarily conducting long-term monitoring on three central Texas species (Tobusch fishhook cactus, Texas snowbells, and Texas wild-rice.). Jackie is a Kerrville native with family still living here.  Jackie is always an interesting and enthusiastic speaker.

Looking ahead

 Other Kerrville Chapter Programs Planned for 2006-07

  October 3           Field trip to the Sandra and John Magee land in Medina.  This field trip is for members only (and one guest).
 November 7      Susan Sander with the Texas Forest Service will talk about native trees.
 December 5      Flo Oxley with Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin
 January 2          Speaker not determined
 February 6        Suzanne Young with N.I.C.E. (Natives Instead of Exotics)
 March 6             Bill Carr, senior botanist, with Texas Nature Conservancy

 Additional Opportunities

September 16    Wildscapes: Gardening to Attract Wildlife     See Fredericksburg NPSOT webpage for full details

October 19-22    NPSOT Annual Meeting and Fall Symposium    See NPSOT website for full details

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Hello to all!  I hope you are managing to stay cool and enjoy the remaining summer days.  While we haven’t held many events, several of our chapter members attended the July 15 open house at the new NPSOT state office in Fredericksburg and the NPSOT 25^th Anniversary celebration dinner which followed.  If you haven’t had a chance to visit the new office, stop by 320 W. San Antonio St. (corner of San Antonio and Milam Streets) on your next trip to Fredericksburg. 

While working through the many documents stored by the state organization, our coordinators found 30 copies of the Symposium Proceedings for the annual meeting held in Kerrville in 1991.  The session’s theme was “The Edwards Plateau and Its Many Ecosystems”, and the proceedings contain many interesting articles.  Look for these at our September meeting, if you would like to have a copy.  

 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.

 WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBER

  Fred G. Siedow

 Thanks to all those that renewed their memberships.
See membership information above.

DOOR PRIZES
Door prizes will be available at our September meeting.  Each member or guest who signs in at the Welcoming Table will receive a free ticket for a door prize.  Be sure to pot up those native plants for donations for the meeting!  

 REFRESHMENTS

Refreshments will be provided at the meeting.

 Please send any suggestions or comments on this newsletter to the Editor:  Marilyn Butcher @ marilynb@ktc.com or 830-238-4513

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