Fredericksburg Chapter

Discover Friends of the Fredericksburg Nature Center

We try to record presentations. However technical difficulties occurred with our walk through the Fredericksburg Nature Center. Once we discovered that it just wasn’t going to work, I tried to record with my phone. There are two segments in this link – I accidentally  hit the off button about 5 minutes in. The second recording covers the remainder of the presentation.  I hope you will find a pathway to your own natural landscape with these links.  ~ Denise Coulter, webmaster.

Friends of Fredericksburg Nature Center.

Lonnie Childs Invites us into the Nature Center

“I’m excited to talk about the Fredericksburg Nature Center and the Friends’ plans to construct an Interpretive Center at the park, which will include a meeting venue, educational programming space, exhibits, expanded native plant gardens, and a children’s play area,” noted Lonnie Childs. “The new Interpretive Center will be a center for environmental education with a specific emphasis on children.”

October 24 our chapter of Native Plant Society of Texas hosts Lonnie Childs from 6:30-8 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Halle, Fredericksburg.

Lonnie Childs, President of the Friends of the Fredericksburg Nature Center (FNC) and a member of this chapter will present an overview of the nature center and its future. The Fredericksburg Nature Center is a 15-acre tract located along Live Oak Creek within Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park. It consists of more than one mile of hiking trails, pollinator gardens, a bird blind, and educational exhibits. The presentation will cover the concept of natural habitats, the ecological services they provide to us, why their preservation is so important, and an overview of its seven micro-habitats.

The nature center was created and is maintained by the Friends of Fredericksburg Nature Center, a 501c(3) volunteer organization, under a service agreement with the city Fredericksburg.

Childs enjoyed a 30-year career as a business executive before retiring to the Fredericksburg area to pursue his interests in history, nature, and land conservation. In 2004, he earned the Texas Master Naturalist designation and now serves as an instructor in that program. After serving as President of the Fredericksburg chapter of NPSOT, he was State President of NPSOT in 2012-2013. In 2017, the society awarded him the Benny Simpson Fellows Award for service to NPSOT.

There will be no meeting in November, and the December meeting will be a Members-only holiday party. Local residents who are new and current NPSOT Fredericksburg chapter members are eligible to win one of two free native plant consultations. Entry coupons are only available in the Fredericksburg Standard Radio-Post and Daily Update. One entry per membership. The last chance to submit the entry coupon is at the October 24 chapter meeting. After confirming membership status, the drawing will be held and announced in the November chapter newsletter.

Holly Simonette

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