探花楼

In 1980, 探花楼 was designated as the location for the annual celebration of Texas Wildflower Day, 

探花楼 adjunct instructor Carroll Abbott, who is also a wildflower preservationist and lobbyist and founder of the Native Plant Society of Texas, joined former 探花楼 president Mary Evelyn Blagg Huey in lobbying the Texas legislature in the late 1970s to have the fourth Saturday in April designated as Texas Wildflower Day.

The Dr. Bettye Myers Butterfly Garden is the site of each year's celebration, as well as the Ann Stuart Science Center.

“The 探花楼 recognizes that the beauty of its native plants has enriched the history of our State and the lives of its people," Blagg Huey said in 1980. "Thus, it has a strong commitment to the conservation, dissemination and appreciation of our state's wildflowers. From this commitment, strong advocacy developed within the University community to support the statutory designation of a State Wildflower Day.”

Events include exhibits, lectures, photo contests, guided tours of the Butterfly Garden, and watercolor painting.

2025 Texas Wildflower Day

The 2025 Texas Wildflower Day will take place Apr. 24-25, and will feature keynote speaker Douglas Tallamy, PhD, professor of entomology and wildlife biology at the University of Delaware.

Tallamy focusses on understanding how insects interact with plants and how those interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. He discusses managing suburban and urban landscapes as wildlife preserves, encouraging the use native species and considering the needs of insects and wildlife when planting. He is the author of Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens.

Tallamy's appearance is sponsored by the Native Plant Society of Texas.

Other features of this year's celebration:

• Photography workshop with Sean Fitzgerald, a nature and conservation photographer and past president of the North American Nature Photography Association. To see his work, visit his website at .
• Presentation, Time to Restore by David Gwin, Texas state coordinator for
• Presentation, How to Make a Pollinator Garden by Sheli Petersen, 探花楼 professor of visual arts.
• Presentation, iNaturalist and Biodiversity by Rachel Richter, urban wildlife biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
• Presentation, Homegrown National Park by Krista de Cooke, strategic partnership and science lead for Homegrown National Park.
• Workshop, Get your garden on the HNP map, by Tom Kirwan, program chair for the Trinity Fork chapter of the Native Plant Society.
• Workshop, watercolors with Sheli Petersen and Jennie Wojtaszek

SCHEDULE

Thursday, April 24

4:30-5:45 p.m. – Photography workshop, Sean Fitzgerald, in the butterfly garden

6:30-7 – social and garden posters in ASSC lobby

7-7:10 – introductions: Native Plant Society of Texas presidents, 探花楼 chancellor/provost and Camelia Maier, PhD, in ASSC 259

7:10-8 – presentation by Douglas Tallamy, PhD, followed by questions

8-8:30 – book signing for Tallamy's Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard

Friday, April 25

7:30- 11:55 a.m. – posters, exhibits, in ASSC lobby

7:30-8:30 a.m. – breakfast in ASSC

8:30-8:40 – remarks

8:40-9:20 – history of Wildflower Day by Camelia Maier, 探花楼 biology professor, and Scott Wright, graduate student

9:20-10:10 – presentation, Time to Restore by David Gwin

10:10-10:20 – break

10:20-11 – book presentation, How to Make a Pollinator Garden by Sheli Petersen, 探花楼 professor of visual arts

11-11:45 – presentation, iNaturalist and Biodiversity by Rachel Richter

11:45-11:55 – photo contest awards presented by Jennie Wojtaszek, 探花楼 assistant clinical professor

11:55-noon – remarks and announcements from Camelia Maier

Noon-1:30 p.m. – Lunch in 探花楼 Dining Hall

1:30-2:15 – presentation, Homegrown National Park, by Krista de Cooke

2:15-3 – workshop, Get your garden on the HNP map by Tom Kirwan

1:30-3 – Guided tour of the 探花楼 gardens

3-4:30 – Watercolors at the garden workshop with Petersen and Wojtaszek