Native Plant Society of Texas

Bastrop County Chapter Meeting
2025-12-22 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Join us for our monthly chapter meeting. Our meetings are hybrid. You can join us in person at the Bastrop Public Library in the Pressley Conference Room or virtually via Zoom.

2025-12-22 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Dear NLCP Committee Members,

This Monday begins our first meeting of 2024. We will meet at 7:00pm on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month on this Zoom link:

https://npsot-org.zoom.us/j/87628189964?pwd=[REDACTED]

We’re a small committee, and we don’t get to see each other in person very often, so please plan to join with your camera on.

See you Monday!

—

Jay Gowen, NLCP Chair, Pines and Prairies Chapter, 832-513-5785 (cell)

Habitat Workday @ EIH
2025-12-23 09:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York)
Habitat volunteers help weed and mulch flower beds, plant native plants, maintain pathways, and trim trees and bushes. Volunteers may also help clean out the pond on select work days.

No experience necessary—we’ll show you what goes and what stays

Bring your own tools or use ours (we have gloves too)

Don’t forget to bring a reusable water bottle, hat, and sunscreen!

Volunteers must be 18 or older to participate in EIH’s workdays unless prior arrangements have been made.

We do not hold workdays when the university is officially closed. Also, workdays are canceled during inclement weather, though a light sprinkle or drizzle rarely keeps us out of the garden. If you’re not sure, please call 281-283-3950 or 281-283-3045, and we’ll let you know if we’re digging in.

LocationEnvironmental Institute of Houston (Click link for Google Map)University of Houston-Clear LakeNorth Office Annex (NOA) 1 Building2700 Bay Area Blvd.Houston, TX 77058

Museum of Texas Handmade Furniture Demonstration Garden Workday
2025-12-25 10:00 - 11:30, 2026-01-14 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Chicago)
We are thrilled to invite you to our upcoming Demonstration Garden Workday! This is a fantastic opportunity to get your hands dirty, learn new gardening techniques, and contribute to the beauty and sustainability of our community garden. Contact Craig Bruska for more details: craigbruska@hotmail.com. The garden is located at 1370 Church Hill Dr., New Braunfels, Tx 78130 in the Heritage Village.

What to Expect:

Hands-On Learning: Gain practical experience in planting, pruning, and maintaining a variety of plants.

Expert Guidance: Our knowledgeable garden coordinators will be on hand to share tips and answer your gardening questions.

Community Spirit: Meet fellow garden lovers, share stories, and enjoy the camaraderie of working together.

What to Bring:

Comfortable clothing and gardening gloves

A hat, water, pest repellent, and sunscreen

Your enthusiasm and love for gardening!

Common gardening tools, such as pruners, weeders, and the like. Whatever you use in your garden, as tools will not be provided.

Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out, this workday is for everyone. Let’s come together to make our demonstration garden a thriving, beautiful space for all to enjoy.

Trinity Forks Chapter dormant for November and December
2025-12-31 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
The Trinity Forks Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas has completed the last of our public programs for this year. We are now dormant for November and December.

Our next meeting is Thursday, January 22, 2026. Watch our website for more details!

Of course, the work goes on with speaking engagements and booth opportunities, but we don’t meet or publish our newsletter. We still respond to requests for information and schedule events in the future.

See you next year!

Workdays at the Heritage Museum of the Texas Hill Country Demonstration Garden
2026-01-01 09:30 - 11:00 (America/Chicago)
We are thrilled to invite you to our upcoming Demonstration Garden Workday! This is a fantastic opportunity to get your hands dirty, learn new gardening techniques, and contribute to the beauty and sustainability of our community garden. The garden is located at 4831 FM 2673, Canyon Lake, TX. Contact Mickey Riviere, mr0752@gvtc.com, for details.

What to Expect:

Hands-On Learning: Gain practical experience in planting, pruning, and maintaining a variety of native plants.

Expert Guidance: Our knowledgeable gardeners will be on hand to share tips and answer your gardening questions.

Community Spirit: Meet fellow garden lovers, share stories, and enjoy the camaraderie of working together.

What to Bring:

Comfortable clothing and gardening gloves

A hat, sunscreen, and water

Your boundless enthusiasm and love for gardening!

Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out, this workday is for everyone. Let’s come together to make our demonstration garden a thriving, beautiful space for all to enjoy.

Board of Directors Meeting
2026-01-05 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Board of Directors meet the first Monday of each month at 6 p.m., 2319 Brook Hollow Drive, Wichita Falls, TX. 76308. All active members are encouraged to attend.

Collin County Chapter - No January Meeting
2026-01-06 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
No January Chapter Meeting – Happy New Year. Our next meeting will be on February 3, 2026.

Clear Lake Chapter: Habitat Workday @ EIH
2026-01-06 09:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York)

Boerne NPSOT Chapter Meeting, Hunke Hall, 33 Herff Farm Road, 6:00-8:00
2026-01-06 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Join us for our monthly chapter meetings. You do not need to be a member to attend. We meet the first Tuesday of each month.

Speaker: Rachel Sarrls

Topic: Common Tree Issues for the Texas Hill Country

Rachel Sarlls is the regional urban ecologist with the Texas A&M Forest Service for the San Antonio region. She graduated from Sam Houston State University with a bachelor’s degree in plant and soil sciences. She is an ISA Certified arborist with specialized qualifications in tree risk assessment and Oak Wilt management.

Rachel has worked as an arborist in the Houston region, managing work from tree removals and pruning to fertilization and planting. Rachel has a passion for empowering communities through education and outreach to help people understand the vital role trees play in urban environment and how to effectively care for them.

Our meetings start with a social time at 6:00pm. Announcements will begin at 6:45pm, followed by the presentation. For the social time, please bring any snacks/appetizers/desserts that you would like to share.

Meeting Location: Hunke Hall, 33 Herff Farm Road, Boerne

January 7 Lakes & Pines Chapter Meeting - "Trees and Shrubs" by Tim Wardell
2026-01-07 14:00 - 15:30 (America/Chicago)

Boerne City Campus Natural Area (BCCNA) Workday
2026-01-08 09:00 - 11:30, 2026-01-15 09:00 - 11:30 (America/Chicago)
Join us for BCCNA workdays!

The BCCNA project involves the restoration and enhancement of the Boerne City Campus Natural Area (BCCNA). The BCCNA is comprised of 13-acres on either side of the Old No. 9 Trail, behind the library. We are working towards restoring this area to a native pollinator habitat, creating a wildlife corridor and haven within the city.

BCCNA Workdays take place on the first and third Thursdays of each month.

Our meeting place will be in the Boerne Patrick Heath Public Library parking lot near the windmill. If you don’t see us at the windmill, walk out behind the library across the creek as we’ve likely already started!

Each volunteer will be required to fill out the City of Boerne’s liability waiver the first time he or she volunteers.

Contact Jeff Schwarz at jeffschwarz27@gmail.com for more info.

No Chapter Meeting, North Central
2026-01-08 18:30 (America/Chicago)
We do not hold our monthly chapter meetings in January. We will see you next month!

Protecting Dark Skies for Plants and All Living Things – Williamson County Chapter Meeting, January 8
2026-01-08 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Join NPSOT-Williamson County on Thursday, January 8, 2026, when our featured topic will be Protecting Dark Skies for Plants and All Living Things with Cindy Luongo Cassidy. Free and open to the public. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM. The guest presentation begins after a short business meeting.

About our topic: Cindy’s talk will explore the natural world and the processes that depend on the absence of artificial light. It will include a number of species but will emphasize issues that plants have with artificial lighting. Issues of navigation, reproduction, circadian rhythms, photoperiodism, competition, predation, and general habitat protection will be covered. Cindy will also touch on some issues that humans have with artificial light at night. The talk wraps up with a review of what each of us can do to protect living things during the nighttime.

About our speaker: Cindy Luongo Cassidy is the leader of DarkSky Texas, formerly known as The Texas Chapter of the International Dark-Sky Association, a founding member of several night sky groups, and a Hays County Master Naturalist. She has twenty-five plus years of experience as a lighting consultant and dark sky advocate, was the key player in positioning the City of Dripping Springs to receive the prestigious International Dark Sky Community designation (the first in Texas), and has assisted numerous other International Dark Sky Place applications in Texas. In 2019, Cindy was awarded the Crawford-Hunter Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor that DarkSky International bestows on individuals who, during their lifetime, have contributed an extraordinary effort to light pollution abatement. Cindy lives in Driftwood, TX and was the creator and Executive Director of the hugely successful Texas Night Sky Festival®.

==> This month’s in-person location is the Georgetown Public Library, 2nd floor, 402 West 8th St, Georgetown, TX 78626. Come early (6:30 PM) for expert advice, to check out the seed swap board, or just to visit.

==> To attend via Zoom, register at https://npsot-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/qpHlGSlPQ0qrEpf2lq1VkA#/registration

Can’t attend? The guest presentation will be recorded for YouTube.

The original meeting announcement is here on the Williamson County Chapter’s blog page.

Boerne: Second Saturday Workday at Cibolo Nature Center Demonstration Gardens
2026-01-10 09:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago)
Generally every second Saturday of the month from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm is our monthly workday in the demonstration gardens at the Cibolo Nature Center. Typical activities include planting, weeding, nurturing, mulching, caging, etc.

Bring your favorite garden tools, gloves, sun and insect protection, and water to drink.

Learn planting techniques from an experienced native gardeners. Learn to identify native plants, the environmental niches they normally occupy, their use by wildlife, and their placement in landscapes to provide a pleasing vista. Help maintain our two demonstration gardens so we can continue to educate and promote native plants to our Hill Country friends!

Also, note that this “Second Saturday Workday” is approved as a Master Naturalist Volunteer Activity.

We maintain two demonstration gardens at the Cibolo Nature Center.

The first demonstration garden is located by the main parking lot area, and includes the central island and raised beds bordering the parking area. This garden is also where we teach students how to identify plants in the Native Landscape Certification Program classes.

The second demonstration garden at the Cibolo Nature Center is referred to as Bill’s Garden, in honor of Chapter founder and garden designer, Bill Ward. It is located in the shaded area between the Auditorium and Administrative buildings at the Cibolo Nature Center.

Join the fun loving group that helps the CNC and NPSOT demonstrate the use of native plants in gardens!

For more information contact Veronica Hawk at veronica.hawk@gmail.com.

Encouraging Native Plantings in HOA Landscapes – Hybrid Clear Lake Chapter Meeting
2026-01-12 18:15 (America/New_York)
6:15 Doors Open – UHCL Bayou Building, Forest Room (B1430)6:40 Zoom Opens6:45 Business Meeting6:55 Garden Notes7:00 Guest Speaker

Join us for an evening of delicious pizza, exciting door prizes, and the chance to connect with others while learning something new! Bring your own beverage.

We often hear, “My HOA won’t let me plant native plants.” The fact is, Texas state law prohibits HOAs from disallowing water-wise landscaping, but does allow them to require the landscaping fit into the general aesthetic of the neighborhood. How can we encourage the use of more native plants in our community and still make HOAs happy?

About the Speaker

Diane Wetherbee is a Texas Master Naturalist, as well as a member of the Native Prairies Association of Texas and the Native Plant Society of Texas. She is a board member of the Upper Trinity Conservation Trust and also serves as vice chairman of the board of The Flower Mound Foundation, which cares for the 12.5-acre prairie remnant that gives the town its name. Diane is a Certified Citizen Forester and is a board member of the Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council. After a career in corporate communications and product marketing, she turned to her first love – the natural world. She was an interpretive naturalist and environmental educator at LLELA for 12 years and has completed coursework toward a Ph.D. in forestry at Stephen F. Austin State University. In her spare time, she serves as a member of Lantana’s Denton County Fresh Water Supply District 7 Board of Directors and is the chairman of the Lantana HOA Architectural Review Committee.

In-person – Parking Pass Required

Clear Lake Chapter Members: If you have a pass, don’t forget it – you will not get another one if you picked one up previously. If you need your new pass, arrive early enough to pick one up in the meeting room and place it in your car.

Visitors: Non-members may purchase a temporary parking permit at the kiosk in front of the Recreation Center or via T2 Mobile Pay.

DO NOT park in faculty/staff parking (enforced 24/7).

Map and Directions – The meeting will be held in the Forest Room (B1430) of the Bayou Building, University of Houston-Clear Lake. Student lot D2 is closest to the Bayou Building.

University of Houston-Clear Lake2700 Bay Area Blvd.Houston, TX 77058

Online – Zoom

Register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

This is a FREE EVENT. Meetings are open to members and non-members. If you would like to become a member, you may join online. For more information about the Native Plant Society of Texas and the benefits of membership please visit: npsot.org.

Hosted by the Environmental Institute of Houston, University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Pines and Prairies NLCP Committee Meeting
2026-01-12 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)

Lindheimer Chapter Board Meeting
2026-01-13 09:30 - 12:00 (America/Chicago)
The members of the Board meet the second Tuesday of each month at the Tye Preston Memorial Library in the Founder’s Room.

Kerrville Chapter Meeting - The Benefits of Installing a Rain Garden
2026-01-13 13:30 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
Shannon Brown will be talking about the benefits of installing a rain garden. Held at Riverside Nature Center, 150 Francisco Lemos Street, Kerrville, TX.

NPSOT Website Committee
2026-01-13 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Open to any members who help manage content on their chapter or committee website.No registration required.

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 897 7771 6314Passcode: [REDACTED]

Chapter Leader Forum: Treasurers Roundtable
2026-01-15 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago)
This event will be a discussion of treasurer resources, Chase Bank profiles updates and new security measures, clarification of sales tax and unrelated business income tax (UBIT) as well as an opportunity to get treasurer questions answered.

Speakers: Mary Sirgo, Executive Director, Native Plant Society of Texas

Registration Link: https://npsot-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/5OWDb6m-TRq01LUowXskCg

Register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Pines & Prairies Chapter Meeting
2026-01-15 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Details will be emailed to members

Below the Roots: Why Native Plants Depend on Soil Function to Truly Thrive - January 15
2026-01-15 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Native plants are often seen as the solution to degraded landscapes, yet many native plantings can struggle to fully establish or perform over time. This talk explores what native plants require belowground in order to truly thrive, and why soil function often determines success long before species selection does. By examining soil as a dynamic system that governs water, biology, and resilience, this discussion reframes native plants not as a shortcut to restoration, but as indicators of underlying land health.

About the Speaker

Erik Fritz is an edaphodynamic engineer and founder of Tierra Buena Regenerative, a firm focused on diagnosing and correcting soil and land systems as functional infrastructure. His work centers on soil as a dynamic system governing water movement, nutrient cycling, biological activity, and long-term landscape performance. Rather than treating surface symptoms, he designs soil-level interventions that restore function, stability, and resilience across agricultural, urban, and restoration landscapes.

Our monthly chapter meetings are held on every 3rd Thursday, January – November. Our meetings are free and open to the public thanks to our members and sponsors.

The presentation will start at 7:00 pm, but come at 6:45 pm for a meet and greet with snacks.

Houston Arboretum and Nature Center

610 Entrance (preferred)120 W Loop N FwyHouston, TX 77024

Woodway Entrance4501 Woodway DriveHouston, TX 77024

Meetings will also be live-streamed and recorded for later viewing.

Return to Houston Chapter Page

Native Seed Workshop
2026-01-17 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
Photo Credit: Claire Sorenson

Learn techniques to success with seed propagation: Cold stratification, scarification, how to plant, and how to grow native seeds.

Location:

North Haven Gardens 7700 North Haven Road Dallas, Texas 75230

Beaumont Chapter Meeting
2026-01-19 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Tyrell Park, 6088 Babe Zaharias Drive, Beaumont, Texas, 77705
Join us for our monthly chapter meetings. You do not need to be a member to attend. We meet the 3rd Monday of each month.

Meeting Location: Tyrrell Park – 6088 Babe Zaharias Drive, Beaumont, TX 77705

We meet in the Binks Horticultural Center in the Beaumont Botanical Gardens area of the park.

Lindheimer Chapter Monthly Meeting
2026-01-20 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
A Balancing Act: Managing Aquatic Plant Communities as Habitat in the San Marcos River

January’s speaker will be Emily Lorkovic, Wildlife & Fisheries Biologist, Ecological Research Group, The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment.

Emily Lorkovic is a Wildlife and Fisheries Biologist at the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment. Her work focuses on aquatic habitat restoration, endangered species management, and long-term stewardship of the San Marcos River. Her background lies in stream restoration, aquatic invasive species, and freshwater mussels.

Presentation summaryRather than focusing on individual plant species, this talk will look at aquatic plant restoration in the San Marcos River through a habitat and decision-making lens. I will discuss how we plan and manage plant communities in a system with multiple endangered species that have distinct and sometimes competing habitat needs, and how funding, regulatory requirements, and long-term maintenance shape those decisions. The goal is to share how we think through tradeoffs, uncertainty, and balance when managing native plant communities in a highly diverse but constrained river system.

Location: Tye Preston Memorial Library, 16311 S. Access Road, Canyon Lake, Texas 78133. All presentations are available via Zoom and are recorded for our Youtube channel.

Executive Committee Meeting
2026-01-20 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) Executive Committee meetings occur monthly.

All members are welcome. Please formally submit your interest to attend as a guest or to be added to the agenda one week prior to executive-director@npsot.org. Guest will need to submit prior notice to each meeting they wish to attend, to receive the relevant meeting info. Please be prepared to follow the Visitor’s Executive Meeting Protocol.

Elm Creek: Monthly Chapter Meeting
2026-01-21 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Join us for our monthly chapter meeting! We meet the 3rd Wednesday of the month.

More details are coming soon.
