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Native Plant Society of Texas

Contest winners announced

NPSOT Archive

Winners of the 2021 members contests were announced during the Annual Awards Presentation on October 9. In addition the annual awards previously announced were formally presented at the event, which was conducted over Zoom and YouTube Live. Watch a video recording of the complete ceremony.

The Kate Hillhouse Chapter of the Year Award is given by the president to the chapter that has best exemplified the mission of the Society in the previous year. This year Kim Conrow presented the award to the Fredericksburg Chapter. The Fredericksburg Chapter will display the award for a year until is awarded again the next year.

Bill Hopkins announced the winners of the various contests, which were determined by a panel of judges using scoresheets to award points in various categories to each contestant.

Photo Contest

The photo contest attracted over 50 entries. Winners were chosen in ten different ecoregions, as shown in the table below. View a slideshow of all the entries here. No awards were given for the Arizona/New Mexico Mountains ecoregion or the High Plains ecoregion. Best of Show was shared by Tom Lebsack of the Austin Chapter for his photo of Longspur Columbine and Robert Kamper of the Williamson County Chapter for his close-up of a Prairie Celestial.

Newsletter Contest

In the chapter newsletter contest the judges selected the Highland Lakes newsletter, edited by Lee Winkler, as the best chapter newsletter.

View the winning entry here.

Judges gave high scores for the clean, wide-format easy-to-read layout and the simple narrow banner. They added that content from a relatively large number of contributors was another plus.

Video Contest

The video contest winner was Pamela Parker Caird of the Williamson County Chapter. Pamela’s outstanding entry, titled Going Wild with Natives in Texas, is jam-packed with information, including an interview with Kelly Simon, author of Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife, and information from Pamela’s own experience wildscaping her family’s property in Liberty Hill.

The video contest judges also awarded an Honorable Mention to the entry by Rachel Cywinski of the San Antonio Chapter, citing the originality of the concept.

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