News and Events

News and announcements from our committee chairs, board members, and chapter leaders. Subscribe to our mailing list to stay up to date. For chapter news, visit Chapters. If you are looking for a calendar of events, see our Events Calendar.

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Collin County

Embracing Change: How Native Plants Revitalize Our Yards and Ourselves

Welcoming native plants into your home landscape is more than an aesthetic or ecological choice—it represents a fundamental shift in how we engage with our outdoor space. While traditional landscapes often reflect a desire to control or suppress change, locally native plants require homeowners to embrace nature’s fluctuations throughout the

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State

Can You Help NPSOT?

Dear Members – We are looking to fill several state leadership positions and need your help! The Native Plant Society of Texas surpassed 5,500 members this year as the public becomes much more aware of the importance of native plants. However, our Society is only as strong as our volunteers!

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Austin

May 2025 Plant of the Month

Bush sunflower is an extremely drought tolerant plant for a chalk prairie. Although it prefers limestone and caliche, it can grow on other soils with good drainage. Works well in a xeriscape. Click on the plant below for more details

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Austin

April 2025 Plant of the Month

Blooms March-May. Tall, sprawling growth form. Blue Curls can grow as a biennial in warmer regions. Leaves are soft and deeply lobed. The purple to lavender-blue, bell-shaped flowers grow in slender, coiled clusters which uncurl as the buds develop. The fruit is a capsule. Click on the plant below for

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Aquatic Plants
Collin County

June 3 Chapter Meeting + Garden Walk

Join us for our June 3rd chapter program, either in person at the Heard Museum in McKinney or virtually via Zoom. Our speaker is Ryan O’Hanlon, presenting on “Aquatic Plants of Texas“. Please note that there will be no video recording available on our YouTube channel of the June meeting.

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Grants & Scholarships

2024 Ann Miller Gonzalez Research Grant Recipients

The Native Plant Society of Texas offers the following research grant to graduate students at Texas universities who are performing academic research related to Texas native plants and/or to the conservation and restoration of native plant habitats of Texas: Ann Miller Gonzalez Graduate Research Grant – This research grant is named

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Fredericksburg

Beautiful Native Grasses of the Texas Hill Country

“When we think of native plants, we usually think about the pretty wildflowers along our roadways, but there’s so much more” said Jonathan Watt, president of NPSOT Fredericksburg. “I’m really looking forward to hearing from Beth McMahon about why our native grasses are beautiful, too, and what they provide for our ecosystem.”

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About the Region

2026 Fall Symposium Logo

This low-elevations region of Texas extends inland from the barrier islands, about 60 or so miles, and stretches from Brownsville to Louisiana. In total, it covers about 9.5 million acres, with a high point of 150 feet in elevation. More than 1000 species of plants can be found in this region. On the southern end, species more common in Mexico (such as Sabal mexicana) and Central America occur.

The barrier islands provide us with dune systems, and clay flats to the inland side, which have species found in these areas alone. Many plants here, such as Ipomoea pes-caprae (beach morning glory), can be found throughout tropical regions of the globe. I’ve encountered the same species on the beaches of Guam.

Once inland, vast marshes and wet prairies occur. Occasionally, oak (Quercus fusiformis) groves can be found. Common grasses include species of Bothriochloa, Paspalum, and Sporobolus; eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides); and switchgrass (Panicum species). Many rivers and creeks cut through the Gulf Prairies, and along these riparian areas various species of trees, Sabal minor, and other plants adapted to clay soils can be found. Due to overgrazing, farming, and fire suppression, woody species such as mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and huisache (Acacia farnesiana), and invasive species such as chinaberry (Melia azedarach), Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), and Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum) have increased and displaced our native flora.

Source: Wildflowers of Texas by Michael Eason