Collin County July Meeting: Native Swagger - Turning Heads with Texas Plants
2026-07-07 18:30 - 21:00 (America/Chicago)
Our Tuesday July 7th chapter meeting will be available to attend in person at the Heard Museum in McKinney or online via Zoom. The program will feature Andrea Delong-Amaya speaking on “Native Swagger – Turning Heads with Texas Plants”.

Presentation Summary:

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Native plants are ecological powerhouses, and they represent the botanical heritage of all Texans. But too often, they’re dismissed as messy or weedy. It’s time to change the narrative! In this talk, we’ll explore how to use Texas natives to create gardens that are true people-pleasers. From wild to formal designs, lawns to containers, sun to shade, wildlife gardens to water gardens, even edible gardens — you’ll see how natives provide habitat while they also serve as the anchor for stunning landscapes. Whether you’re already a native-plant champion or just native-curious, you’ll come away with ideas to elevate your garden and give native plants the starring role they deserve.

Attendance Options

Our meetings are free and open to the public. This is a hybrid meeting, held at the Heard Museum in McKinney and virtually via Zoom.

Location (in-person): Laughlin Hall at the Heard Museum. Please enter through the south doors of the building.

Zoom Link: https://tinyurl.com/yn85nbzd – Passcode: [REDACTED] Meeting ID: 885 5459 6572

Doors and Zoom Open: 6:30 PM (for setup and connection testing)

Meeting Begins: 7:00 PM, with an update from Chapter President Rodney Thomas, followed by the featured presentation.

Special Program Note: Per our speaker’s request, this session will not be recorded or shared on our YouTube channel.

We look forward to seeing you at our program.

About our Speaker

For over three decades, Andrea DeLong-Amaya has been living her life’s mission to honor the natural world through presenting and teaching classes about the horticulture, ecology, and importance of native plants in planned landscapes.

Over the prior 21 years, she served as the Wildflower Center’s Director of Horticulture, overseeing the nine acres of Texas native plant gardens, and nursery programs. She’s been a staff member since 1998 and has over 30 years of experience with Texas native plants in horticulture, ecology and garden design. Recently, she has taken on a new role at the Wildflower Center focusing more on teaching and advancing interpretation in the gardens.

She has contributed numerous gardening articles to publications such as Taunton’s Fine Gardening, Rodale’s Organic Gardening, American Public Gardens Association’s Public Garden, Neil Sperry’s Gardens and e-Gardens, Texas Gardener and Wildflower (the Center’s member magazine). Her regionally best-selling book, the Texas Native Plant Primer (Timber Press), was released in March of 2025.

The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College honored DeLong-Amaya with the prestigious 2025 Scott Garden & Horticulture Award in March 2025. And in the fall of 2025, the Native Plant Society of Texas recognized her for the Texas Native Plant Primer with the Correll Memorial Award.
