News and Events

By Bill Ward Published in The Boerne Star on January 7, 2003 When my wife and I first hiked the trails in Friedrich Park several years ago, it was a sunny winter day. Most of the trees and bushes were leafless, but we kept admiring some shrubs and low trees

By Bill Ward Published in The Boerne Star on December 24, 2002 “Take Only Photos; Leave Only Footprints” is a familiar admonition at state and national parks and nature preserves. Do not disturb Nature; let it take its own course. Is that really being a good steward of the land?

By Bill Ward Published in The Boerne Star on December 10, 2002 My brother called me a hypocrite for publicly touting native plants while privately keeping a greenhouse full of exotic plants. But he missed the point. Neither I nor any other member of the Native Plant Society of Texas

By Bill Ward Published in The Boerne Star on November 26, 2002 During her recent talk in Boerne, noted author and landscape designer Jill Nokes asked, “Why isn’t the Big-tooth Maple the tree of choice for yards in this area?” “Its moderate scale, its outstanding fall colors and overall form

By Bill Ward Published in The Boerne Star on November 12, 2002 In some ways the wildflowers and other native vegetation we enjoy in the Boerne area today were predestined by events that took place more than 100 million years ago, even before flowering plants existed anywhere on Earth. This

By Bill Ward Published in The Boerne Star on October 29, 2002 “Deck the halls with boughs of possumhaw, tra la la.” Yes, possumhaw! This is the holly of the Boerne area, and the females of the species decorate our roadsides during the holiday season. Operation NICE! (Natives Instead of

By Bill Ward Published in The Boerne Star on October 15, 2002 When Nina Nye and I were members of the Fredericksburg Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT), I asked if she thought there would be any interest in a NPSOT chapter in Boerne. She was doubtful,

By Bill Ward Published in The Boerne Star on September 27, 2002 The October plant recommended by Operation NICE! (Natives Instead of the Common Exotics!) is the reliable and easy-to-grow perennial aster, known as “autumn aster” or “fall aster” or “wild-blue aster.” This fall bloomer has a lot going for

By Bill Ward Published in The Boerne Star on September 17, 2002 Ever since people have been able to travel to foreign lands, they have brought home the exotic plants that fascinated them. Columbus supposedly returned from one of his voyages with the small cactus Melocactus. Countless others must have

By Bill Ward Published in The Boerne Star on August 27, 2002 Operation NICE! (Natives Instead of the Common Exotics!) is recommending American beautyberry as plant of the month for September. This is the leafy shrub which gets lots of attention in the fall when its arching branches become loaded

By Bill Ward Published in The Boerne Star on August 13, 2002 Lady Bird Johnson reportedly said that the movement to use native plants in landscaping and gardening was not meant to exclude all other plants from consideration. Indeed, most of us who take pride in cultivating native plants also