Scholarship winner to study landscape architecture

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Ms. Kara Conn is the winner of the 2019 Kate Hillhouse Scholarship. The $2,500 award will support her pursuit of a Master of Landscape Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin this fall.

Kara was a senior geography major in the Honors College at University of North Texas in Denton when she applied for the scholarship. She was also a Terry Scholar, an honor bestowed on students who demonstrate outstanding scholarship, leadership and service, and she studied abroad at the University of Leeds, where she studied sustainability.

To prepare for her graduate degree, Kara worked two spring seasons at Meador Nursery in Denton, where she discovered the rewarding world of gardening and began to develop her knowledge of the native plants of North Texas. Kara learned of the importance of natives in school but really saw their benefits in action at the garden center. Customers boasted of how easily their natives thrived and attracted pollinators and wildlife. Ms. Conn is very excited to learn more about these native plants as well as how to design with them. As a landscape architect, she looks forward to designing naturally beautiful landscapes that improve the environmental, physical, and mental health of her community.

The Kate Hillhouse Scholarship is offered each year to Texas college students by the Native Plant Society of Texas. The award is funded by donations and by proceeds from the silent auction and quilt raffle held each year during the fall symposium. 

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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: kimberkaushik

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