Many people unfamiliar with the Native Plant Society of Texas seem to envision the organization as a collection of garden clubs for native-plant geeks. NPSOT may have some obsessive enthusiasts (i.e., geeks), but no chapter of NPSOT is a garden club.
Of course, cultivating native plants in home landscapes brings important benefits to the ecology, because natives in the garden reduce the need to irrigate and fertilize. In his book “Bringing Nature Home — How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants”, Douglas Tallamy writes, “… it will be the plants that we use in our gardens that determine what nature will be like in 10, 20, and 50 years from now.”
Yes, gardening with native plants is one important focus of NPSOT, but chapters around the state are engaged in many other activities to protect and sustain the natural ecosystems by preserving and re-establishing native-plant habitats. Those activities are especially effective where the NPSOT chapters team with other organizations.
For example, Boerne Chapter members have been involved in several projects with the Cibolo Nature Center, and Fredericksburg Chapter members have been major volunteers in developing the Fredericksburg Nature Center. Many NPSOT chapters around the state cooperate with the local chapters of the Texas Master Naturalist Program, and some work with local governments and private industries.
Williamson County NPSOT members, led by Sue Wiseman, currently are working with Williamson County commissioners to judiciously develop 1,011 acres of land set aside for the future Northwest Regional Park. The Williamson County commissioners are seeking guidance from the local NPSOT chapter in planning the preservation and restoration of this piece of the southern Lampasas Cut Plains. The former ranch has lain fallow for several years, allowing many of the native-plant species to flourish.
In the face of unprecedented urbanization, Williamson County commissioners are purchasing several tracts of land for natural-habitat parks, where county residents can experience nature.
Sue Wiseman and her team of NPSOT members make quarterly surveys of the future Northwest Regional Park. So far, they have identified about 200 native plants on this tract, and the list is growing.
In Comal County, several members of the Lindheimer Chapter of NPSOT are working through the Lindheimer Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist Program to participate in the habitat management of 300 acres of Blackland Prairie. This tract of land, owned by Waste Management, Inc., is the Mesquite Creek Wildlife Habitat Area located just northeast of New Braunfels.
NPSOT and TMN members John Siemssen, Susan Bogle, Charles Tubbs, Coco Brennan, and Monta Zengerle are among the key volunteers who answered Waste Management’s request for help and guidance in turning former farmland into habitat worthy of certification by the Wildlife Habitat Council.
Already they have created a large and lush pollinator garden, which attracts a great variety of butterflies almost year round. Other ongoing and proposed projects that involve native plants are pond enhancement and restoration, an invasive-species management program, a native grass/wildflower garden, and an environmental learning center at the habitat entrance.
NPSOT chapters all over the state are cooperating with governmental agencies, businesses, nature centers, and other non-profit organizations to enhance and preserve what is, next to water, the most critical part of the natural ecosystems of Texas — the native flora.
By Bill Ward
Published in The Boerne Star in August 2010
