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Native Plant Society of Texas

Dallas Chapter

President’s Message:

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Fall is my favorite season. I can’t wait for the cool air, creative decorations, the smell of pumpkin bread and planting in my gardens.

If you didn’t know, Fall is the perfect time to plant. After this last summer and the past two years I am excited to celebrate new growth, new plants and new opportunities.

With that in mind, I want to introduce myself to you. My name is Lois Diggs, the incoming President of the Dallas Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and even though I have lived in Texas for 42 years, I am still learning about the best practices and native plants to use in our landscape. I became a Master Gardener in 2012, have served on the Board of our NPSOT chapter for 3 years, and became a Master Naturalist in 2020. All that says is, I volunteer a lot and am still wanting to learn.

I hope you will come to our NPSOT monthly chapter meeting on Monday, October 17th at GCC, 8515 Greenville Ave 75243. We will meet in the Fellowship Hall, 6:30 social time, meeting at 7 pm.

This will be our last meeting of 2022, and to celebrate Fall and Texas Native Plant week (10/16-10/22) we will be giving away a native plant to everyone attending the meeting. If you also have plants you would like to add to our give away, please bring them to the Meeting.

If you can’t make the meeting in person, you are invited to login on Zoom.

Please look for our October newsletter for more details.

For those of us who collect seeds, the Dallas County Master Gardener at Coppell ISD’s School Garden program has requested seeds for their new pollinator garden program. What a wonderful opportunity to share and education these students. Please bring your seeds to the meeting in an envelope, clearly marked with common and botanical names, the year collected and any other info you feel the students might benefit from.

You are invited to sign up for the newsletter here.  And visit us on Facebook.

I look forward to seeing you at our meeting on Monday, October 17th. Join us to meet the new Leadership of the chapter, receive a native plant, and give your voice to our future educational presentations, field trips, projects and more. Each of us can help in small and big ways to education the public, further our knowledge base and support Native Planting in Dallas and surrounding area.

Lois Diggs

NPSOT, Dallas Chapter, President

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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