Award-winning author-speaker Greg Grant will be in Linden Tuesday, Oct. 16, to give a free talk about gardening with native plants.
The event will begin 6:30 p.m. at the Cass County Sheriff’s Training Facility east of Linden on County Road 1913. The doors will open at 6 p.m. for registration. There is no charge to attend.
The Caddo Wildflower Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas will host Grant as part of its upcoming Texas Native Plant Week celebration.
Grant’s presentation will be “Gardening Naturally with Native Plants.”
“Mr. Grant’s entertaining talks have delighted hundreds of audiences over the years,” said event chairman and chapter member Belinda McCoy McLaughlin.
“You definitely don’t want to miss one of Greg’s talks,” she said. “He will entertain you and educate you, all at the same time. Plus, he’ll be speaking on a topic that’s becoming more and more important in today’s world — using our own native plants in our landscapes.”
Native plants in the home landscape save water, require less maintenance and limit the need for herbicides, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Hardier and more disease-resistant than imported or exotic species, natives also provide much-needed habitat for such wildlife as butterflies and birds, she said.
“With more than 5,000 species of plants native to Texas, variety is never-ending,” McLaughlin said. “And with its abundant rainfall, acid soils and relatively temperate climate, East Texas is home to more than 2,500 species of natives.”
The Texas Legislature has designated Oct. 14-20 this year as Native Plant Week. Local communities throughout Texas are planning events for the public to foster the use of native plants in the landscape.
“Texas Native Plant Week comes at the perfect time of year to start a native garden,” McLaughlin said. “As temperatures cool slightly and rainfall increases, native plants will have the optimal conditions to settle in and grow deep roots throughout winter. Those deep roots are that help native plants survive the hot summers.”
Grant, a seventh-generation Texan who grew up in Longview and now lives on ancestral land in Arcadia, is the author of “Texas Fruit and Vegetable Gardening” and “In Greg’s Garden — A Pineywoods Perspective on Gardening, Nature, and Family,” and he is co-author of three books: “Heirloom Gardening in the South — Yesterday’s Plants for Today’s Gardens,” “Texas Home Landscaping” and “The Southern Heirloom Garden.”
He also writes “In Greg’s Garden” column for Texas Gardener magazine, writes a regular feature for Neil Sperry’s Gardens magazine and writes a monthly gardening blog for Arbor Gate Nursery (aborgate.com).
Area homeowners and gardeners may learn more about native Texas plants by visiting the regular meetings of the Caddo Chapter of the Native Plant Society.
Meetings are at 7 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month at Horne Enterprise Texas Highway 77 East at Texas Highway 43, in Atlanta.
For information, call McLaughlin at 903-424-7724 or Kay Lowery at 903-835-5532.
The Oct. 16 event will include door prizes, refreshments and vendors.
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