Genetic Diversity in Native Plant Gardening

Join us for our next meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 1st at the Kathleen Clay Edwards Library at 6:30pm to learn about Genetic Diversity in Native Plant Gardening.

The conservation of healthy native plant populations requires the conservation of species’ genetic diversity. Alison will explain what genetic diversity means and why it matters. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how to promote genetic diversity in native plant populations.

Alison is a life-long plant lover who took a roundabout path to her passion for native plants. After finishing a masters degree in mathematics and enjoying a successful career as an actuary, she entered a doctoral program in plant ecology at the University of Texas at Austin, thinking that ecological research was her calling. However, while doing field work for her dissertation, Alison had the opportunity to explore truly wild habitats on the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas, which changed everything for her.

Alison became fascinated by the many wonderful species that grew naturally on the dry, limestone hills west of Austin, TX, and noticed that very few of them were available in the nursery trade. Instead, landscapers and homeowners were more likely to plant invasive species. From these experiences, Alison began to dream about what a native plant nursery could offer to a local community and realized that growers of native plants will be an important piece in the puzzle of restoring native ecosystems.