Native plants for yards
With this year’s exceptional drought, stricter watering restrictions has become part of the City’s Drought Contingency Plan that allows the City Manager to order additional water restrictions when the combined lake storage levels of Lakes Travis and Buchanan reaches 900,000 acre-feet.
As a result, homeowners are looking at native plants as a solution to minimal rain for yards. Trees, shrubs, flowers, vines or grasses from central Texas area condition themselves better to local climate and soil while providing habitat for wildlife. Once established, these plants usually require less water.
Texas Native Plant Week is October 16- through 22, 2011 The Greater Austin Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center is a great resource in the Austin area for knowledge on native plants. Upcoming events that will give homeowners the information they need to select just the right plant that will better acclimate to our weather. October 15 and 16 - Attendees at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Fall Plant Sale and Gardening Festival can choose from nearly 300 species of Texas native plants.
Tips for gardens will be presented by experts, guest can go on guided walks & talks, and kid’s will opportunity to engage in activities. Saturday & Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit http://www.wildflower.org/plantsale/ for various admission prices. October 18, Austin Native Plant Society Meeting –Find out why certain native plants are not always available at local nurseries from Jared Pyka, Sales and Marketing Manager of Native Texas Nursery, who will speak on the challenges and future of native plant propagation.
October 20, Native Plants of Central Texas Walk & Talk –Discover the beauty and benefits of Central Texas native plants with the Wildflower Center’s Director of Horticulture, Andrea DeLong-Amaya who will provide an informative tour of the gardens to see colorful natives first hand. Afterwards visitors will hear a talk that covers the wide variety of native plants and why they are the best choices for Central Texas gardens.
The average Texas family can save 30 to 80 percent on water bills just by landscaping with plants that flourish in our climate. Visit Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and find out more about native plants: http://www.txnativeplantweek.org/
By Monica Pena
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