floral design & botanical blog

Texas Buckeye Trail

March 24, 2018 by Travis Ward in Plant Hunt

Just a few miles southeast of downtown Dallas is The Great Trinity Forest, an urban park occupying the flood plain of the Trinity River. In this park, a mile-long trail lightly tracks through the damp forest floor and marshland to a large stand of Texas buckeyes (Aesculus glabra var. arguta) near the river bank. This area represents one of the furthest west communities of A. glabra var. arguta, with most populations occurring from eastern Oklahoma to Ohio. In Texas, you can also find this species in the Hill Country, the deep Piney Woods forest, and along the Red River. This buckeye is a pretty uncommon species for this area, so when I heard they were blooming locally, a hiking trip was in order.

Pumpkin and Succulent Party

November 21, 2016 by Travis Ward in Design

I am so fortunate to be able to offer these in-home parties for very enthusiastic hosts and their guests. The idea is that you invite your friends over, they bring a pumpkin, and I help you fill it with succulents, flora, and other elements from nature.

Oak Point Nature Preserve

January 26, 2016 by Travis Ward in Plant Hunt

In Plano, a suburban city in the Dallas metropolitan area, the community has purchased 800 acres of farmland and utility right-of-ways to create a sprawling, multi-use park. The design of the park is great in its simplicity as it's mostly open with run and bike trails. The focus of the park is preserving the land and restoring the property to its pre-human existence. The park is also home to one of the few native prairie remnants still intact in Collin County.

Dormant foliage of summer's past can be interesting and beautiful during cold, winter months, but difficult to properly identify. This post will highlight the prairie plants of Oak Point with identifications when possible.

Spring Creek

August 11, 2015 by Travis Ward in Plant Hunt

Along Spring Creek, near the intersection of State Highway 190 and US Highway 75 in Collin County, Texas, there is the Spring Creek Nature Area, a section of land set aside by the City of Richardson for public recreation. One would never guess from these photos that this area is bounded by 8-lane highways and mid-rise office buildings. There is a lot of value in these 100 acres, both economically and ecologically. Many Texas native plants call this area home, despite the surrounding decimation. And in a plot-twist at the end of this post, one will see early pioneers called this area home, as well.