Under a gazebo in the South Texas Plains area at the San Antonio Botanical Garden, Michael Eason, who collects and curates the garden’s vast array of native plants, is addressing members of the Williamson County chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. Pointing out several unusual specimens, Eason describes how he traveled 300 miles to collect them in far West Texas. “I don’t know exactly how many plants we have planted that are rare,” he said. “But we have a lot more that are waiting for cooler weather just to get them in the gardens here.”
It’s been a particularly rough year for plants and pollinators. Exacerbated by climate change, drought, record-breaking heat and hail, and a late-winter ice storm have wreaked havoc on Texans’ gardens large and small. And water restrictions imposed because of the summer drought have made things worse.
