Shirley Lusk is presented wit h the Charles Weddle Award at the 2012 Awards Banquet in Kerrville.

Every fall the Native Plant Society presents awards to acknowledge the achievements of individuals whose work enriches our understanding of native plants and their environments. The awards recognize excellence in writing, acts of conservation and public service, as well as lifetime achievement in the field of Texas native plants.

Awardees are selected by an Awards Committee appointed by the State Board. This year’s committee chair is Cynthia Maguire. Awards will be presented during the Fall Symposium in Corpus Christi on Saturday, October 19.

More information about the awards is available here. The following is a summary list.

• The Carroll Abbott Memorial Award is given for writings in the popular vein on Texas native plants.
• The Donovan Stewart Correll Memorial Award is presented for scientific writing in the field of the native flora of Texas.
• The Nancy Benedict Memorial Award honors an individual, a group or an organization for a specific act of conservation or public service in the field of Texas native plants.  This is neither a “joiner” nor a “lifetime of service” award.
• The Charles Leonard Weddle Memorial Award is awarded for lifetime achievement in the field of Texas native plants.
• The Lynn Lowrey Memorial Award is given for horticultural achievement in the field of Texas native plants.

Please submit your nominations by June 10. Send them to Cynthia Maguire at GrowNative11@gmail.com or to our state office at state@npsot.org.

Quilt made with blocks contributed by many members
and raffled in 2011.

Tricia is asking members to make quilt blocks out of fabric which has been sewn or stitched together. She will collect the blocks and make them into a quilt which will be raffled or auctioned during the Texas Native Plants Symposium in Corpus Christi. The funds raised will be used to create an undergraduate scholarship for native plant education. Her previous quilts helped raise unprecedented amounts for the scholarship fund.

Tricia is a member of the Cross Timbers Chapter, which meets in Weatherford, and has been making quilts as a hobby for over ten years. She has been donating quilts for the Silent Auction at the Symposium for several years before getting the idea to make a collaborative quilt.

• The block should interpret the theme of our purpose and goals.
• Size of the block must be 12.5 inches square (i.e., this is 12”sq w/seam allowance added).
• Traditional or original patterns may be used (pieced or appliqued or a combination).
• Blocks may include surface embellishment techniques (e.g., dying, trapunto, stenciling, embroidery, beading, painting).
• Each block must be washable.
• Please use natural fiber as background, remembering this will be quilted.
• An identification label must be securely attached to the block with the name, address, telephone number and chapter of the maker.
• The challenge is open to everyone.The designer need not be planning to attend board meetings or the symposium in order to participate.
• All blocks should be received by the July State Board meeting, where they will be judged and a prize presented to the favorite.
• All block entries will be used in the quilt.

For questions contact Tricia Hopkins.

Over 30 applications for membership have been received at the State Office from Uvalde, according to Vice-President Cathy Lustgarten.  No meeting times or places have been specified as yet. Uvalde is southwest of San Antonio.

To qualify as a new chapter, there must be at least ten memberships, and be approved by the State Board.  Other necessary steps are described here.

Just last month a new chapter was approved in Glen Rose.  However not all the news is good. The chapter in Winnsboro has decided to disband.

If you are interested in joining the new Uvalde chapter or would like to form a chapter somewhere else, contact Pam Middleton at our State Office.

The annual fall symposium will be held in Corpus Christi on October 17-20. The announced theme is “South Texas – Beach to Brush Country” and participants will explore the diverse ecoregions of South Texas, which geographically serves as the intersection point for the Brush Country, Coastal Plains and Marshes, and Gulf Beaches and includes unique habitats such as the Texas Sand Sheet.

Attendees will get an overview of the ecoregions and their evolution during historical times while also gaining an understanding of the effects of current stresses such as climate change, urban sprawl, invasive plants, and general habitat destruction. Ongoing efforts at habitat preservation and restoration will be examined along with some encouraging success stories. Because South Texas habitats continue to suffer under exceptional drought conditions, the symposium will feature a review of water issues in the region. Additional presentations will feature popular topics such as sustainability, native plant gardening, habitat conservation, restoration projects, education and other native plant-related topics.

Papers should be accessible to a diverse audience including academics, professionals, conservationists, educators and gardeners who are interested in the “research, conservation and utilization of native plants and plant habitats of Texas.”

Notification of your intent to submit a paper should be emailed to symposium@npsot.org no later than June 24. Please include the following information: paper’s title, a brief description (150 words or less), author’s name, brief biography and contact information.

Our Education Committee will review all proposals and notify authors by July 15 of their status along with instructions for submission of the completed paper. Papers accepted for inclusion in the symposium proceedings will be due no later than August 15. Selected papers may also be chosen for oral presentation at the Saturday afternoon break-out sessions on October 19.

For questions about submitting a paper, please contact John Nikolatos, Education Committee Chair, at jnik@earthlink.net or Lonnie Childs, Symposium Co-Chair, at symposium@npsot.org.

You may also contact the State Office at state@npsot.org or by calling 830.997.9272.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is celebrating the week with a special photo exhibit co-sponsored by Texas Highways magazine. Then on Friday the Wildflower Center will participate in National Public Gardens Day and on Saturday the Wildflower Center will be a stop on the Gardens on Tour.

The first National Wildflower Week was launched in 1988 as the primary focus of the American Wildflower Society, which was founded the same year. A few years later the American Wildflower Society became defunct and the week languished in obscurity. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center became the permanent home of NWW in 2003.

You can celebrate National Wildflower Week yourself wherever you are. Find a field or garden and go for a walk. Take a field guide and learn the names of the flowers you see. If you are photographer or an artist, capture some of the beautiful flowers as images to share. The Wildflower Center has a entire page of more ideas for how to celebrate.

We will be talking about wildflowers all week on our Facebook page and on Twitter, along with things you can do to enjoy wildflowers.

Neches River Rosemallow

They are proposing to designate 1,353 acres of critical habitat for the gladecress in San Augustine and Sabine counties, and 167 acres of critical habitat for the rosemallow in Cherokee, Harrison, Houston, Nacogdoches and Trinity counties. The listing and critical habitat proposed rule have been opened for public comment along with a draft economic analysis of the critical habitat designations for the gladecress and rose-mallow. A public meeting will be held Wednesday, May 1, at the Stephen F Austin University Kennedy Auditorium and the public may view documents and comment at the US Fish & Wildlife website.

View proposal for listing and comment here.

View and comment on critical habitat analysis here.

For more background on the plants see this Houston Chronicle article by Matthew Treasaugue.

Mr Janni is a botanist with SWCA Environmental Consultants, an Interim Board Member for the Society of Wetland Scientists and a Research Associate at BRIT. He has over ten years experience in ethnobotanical research. He is is currently working on environmental permitting projects in the LBJ National Grasslands (Wise County), East Texas Pineywoods, and the Texas Gulf Coast.

In other business Dell and Gerin Hood were appointed as librarians of the Society’s collection located in Fredericksburg.

Texas Native Plant Week

Texas Native Plant Week is celebrated the third week in October with a variety of entertainment and educational events that appeal to the whole family, some of which are sponsored by Native Plant Society chapters, and some by other organizations and by communities all over the state.

The State Board is seeking a chair and committee members who will help publicize and promote these events. If this is something you would like to help with please contact Lonnie Childs at lonniechilds@utexas.edu.

The awards were announced March 29 by Cathy Downs, chair of the Bring Back the Monarch to Texas Committee.

The small grants have been awarded to schools, nature centers and other organizations to create demonstration gardens or “Monarch Waystations” with habitat for the migrating Monarchs. The funds must be used to pay for native milkweeds, native nectar plants, mulch, compost and soil. The application process for grants is described here.

The Bring Back the Monarch to Texas Committee was established by the Native Plant Society of Texas and Monarch Watch to raise public awareness for Monarch Butterfly conservation, to produce and distribute milkweeds that support reproduction by Monarch butterflies and to restore Monarch habitat throughout the Texas migration flyway. Monarch Watch is an educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas that engages citizen scientists in large-scale research projects.

Texas provides critical habitat on the primary migration pathway of Monarchs to their wintering grounds in Mexico. The availability of native milkweed host plants, so necessary to assure successive generations continuing north, has declined in Texas. Herbicide-tolerant crops, mowing of roadsides, parks and open areas and continued drought have all had an impact on the number of Monarchs surviving the southern journey to Mexico. Recently released population estimates for the Monarchs over-wintering in Mexico report the butterfly numbers to be at their lowest level since reporting began.

Here is a complete list of the projects receiving grants:

• Beacon Hill Community Garden, San Antonio
• Beacon Hill Playground, San Antonio
• Trinity River Audubon Center, South Dallas
• Helbing Elementary School, Fort Worth
• Agrilife Extension Building, Rockport
• Dogwood Canyon, Cedar Hill
• Bergheim VFD, Bergheim
• Fort Worth Day School, Fort Worth
• Austin Waldorf School, Lakeway
• Acton Nature Center, Acton
• Milano Junction Memorial Garden, Milano
• Terrell Heights Community Garden, San Antonio
• The Falls at Colorado Museum, Marble Falls
• Bluebonnet Montessori School, Lakeway
• Colorado River Refuge, Bastrop
• Katie Prairie Conservancy, NW Houston
• Clark Middle School, Abilene
• Lake Arrowhead Nature Trail, Wichita Falls

• April 5-7 McKinney Heard Museum Spring Plant Sale Collin County Chapter will have a booth
• April 6 Boerne Mostly Native Plant Sale Kendall County Fairgrounds 9 – 3
• April 6 Ft Worth Botanic Gardens North Central Chapter will sell plants there 9 – 12
• April 6 Flower Mound Environmental Fair Trinity Forks Chapter will have a booth 10 – 1
• April 6 Georgetown Williamson County Master Gardeners Spring Garden Fair 9 – 2
• April 6 San Marcos Nature Center Wildflower Fiesta native plant sale and market 9 – 5
• April 12-14 Austin Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Several Austin area chapter will be there
• April 13 Fredericksburg Markt Platz Kinder Halle native plant sale 9 – 12
• April 13 Stephenville Native and Heirloom Plant Fair
• April 20 Denton Red Bud Festival Trinity Forks Chapter will have a booth 10 – 4
• April 20 Nacogdoches Mast Arboretum plant sale
• April 20 San Antonio Viva Botanica plants for South Texas 10 – 2
• April 27 Longview Northeast Texas chapter plant sale at Jake’s Feed Store, 3612 McCann 8 am
• April 27 Weatherford Cross Timbers Native Plant Sale at the Weatherford Blooms Festival 9 – 3
• May 4 Amarillo Wildflower Workshop at Palo Duro Canyon State Park 8 – 5
• May 4 Atlanta Caddo Wildflower Chapter plant sale in Cattleman’s Association building on Hwy 59 9 am
• May 4 Dallas Love our Native Plants and Prairies plant sale at White Rock Lake Bath House 9 – 3

Last year’s sale in Longview. Photo by Carroll Flournoy

The winning project in the junior level is Pecan’s Effects on Soil by Mark Stelluti, winner of one hundred dollars. In the senior level Mikyla Stalbaum and Carola Cortinas won for their team project The Power of Texas Lantana. Each will receive two hundred dollars.

The state science fair is sponsored by ExxonMobil and co-sponsored by the Texas Workforce Commission with The University of Texas at San Antonio hosting the affair at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center.

In my capacity as Vice-President, Education, of the Native Plant Society, I went looking for projects whose subject was a native plant or native plant habitats. I was not expecting even one project because I had not been able to inform the science teachers of Texas of the Society’s intention to give monetary awards to worthy projects. However, when I got on the floor of the competition, I found five very good projects dealing in some way with Texas native plants or their habitats.

• Phytoremediation of Fertilizer Polluted Water by Lemna minor: this researcher determined that pond duckweed could reduce nitrates and nitrites from water.
• Pecan’s Effects on Soil: this researcher looked at soil under his pecan tree to try to determine why nothing grew under it.
• An Analysis of Wildfire Effects on Plants and Their Rhizospheres: this senior level researcher used bluebonnets and their associated nitrogen fixing nodules grown on freshly burned grass to see the effects on the nodules.
• The Power of Texas Lantana: the senior level researchers of this team project showed that lantana “juice” could be used as an insecticide and it could also be used to alter the pH of water moving the pH from acid to neutral.
• Uncontrolled Wildfires and Their Effects on Soil Nutrients: this senior lever researcher used a local wildfire to analyze soil nutrients after the fire versus an unburned area’s soil nutrients.

All projects were worthy and the young researchers were well-versed in their projects, talking about it with ease and clarity. The winning projects were chosen because, besides being well-done projects, their purposes aligned closely with the Native Plant Society mission statement.

Interacting with all these young researchers was an enjoyable exercise for me as well.