Bill Lindemann, area naturalist, will speak on “Native Plants From the Ground Up” on Tuesday, October 28, at the Gillespie County Historical Society, 312 West San Antonio Street in Fredericksburg, beginning at 7:00PM.

The program, which is sponsored by the Fredericksburg Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas, is free and open to the public.

Lindemann, a retired exploration geologist, has served a president of the local chapter and the Native Plant Society of Texas.

In his retirement, he is currently active in the Friends of the Fredericksburg Nature Center, the Hill Country Land Trust and the Hill Country Historical Foundation.

He has written a weekly column on “Birding in the Hill Country” for the past eleven years. He is a frequent speaker on nature subjects in the Hill Country and state.

Lindemann will discus how the 5,000 native plant species found in Texas have developed their niches for thriving in the natural landscapes of the state dependent on rainfall, temperature, and soils occurring within the 10 vegetative zones.

Other facts favoring native plants are resistance to pathogens, compatibility with birds and butterflies, and low maintenance and water requirements.

He will discuss the factors that influence where, when and which flowering native plants can be considered for specific landscape conditions.

He will begin with the soil conditions, but will also discuss other factors that affect our Hill Country native plants, including soil types, sun vs. shade, moisture and season.

For more information on this program, or the Native Plant Society of Texas, please call Stephanie Sutton at 830-990-2942.