Native Plant Volunteers Set Up at Stephenville's H-E-B This Weekend
The Texas Native Plant Celebration brings volunteers, native plants and free seed packets to Stephenville's H-E-B on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17 and 18.
Most Saturdays the trip to the grocery store is about milk and bread. This weekend in Stephenville it can also be about the yard.
The Texas Native Plant Celebration comes to H-E-B stores across the state over the next two weekends. The Native Plant Society of Texas schedule shows volunteers at the Stephenville store, 2150 W. Washington, on Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18. None are scheduled there for the following weekend.
Hours
Saturday, Oct. 17: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 18: noon to 4 p.m.
What you will find
The society says shoppers at participating stores can buy from a selection of native plants, meet local volunteers, and learn how native plants support Texas wildlife and save water. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation is providing free native seed packets for each region through its Pollinators and Prairies program. The packets are available while supplies last.
The foundation is also promoting a free app called Wild Thumb. The society says it helps Texans find native plants suited to where they live and build landscapes friendly to pollinators.
H-E-B and the Native Plant Society of Texas founded the celebration in 2023. Texas Master Gardeners joined in spring 2026. This fall's event includes 192 H-E-B stores, with volunteers scheduled for more than 360 tabling sessions over the two weekends. The society estimates about 700 volunteers in all.
Check before you drive
The society warns that volunteer schedules, store participation, seed packets and plant stock can change and may vary by store. It asks visitors to check its page again before going. A store may still sell native plants when no volunteer table is set up.
Why bother with natives
Erath County gardeners know what a Cross Timbers summer does to a lawn full of plants from somewhere else. Plants that grew here before any of us came were made for this ground and this weather. They tend to ask less of the hose and give more to the bees and birds, including the monarchs passing through Texas right now. Fall is a fine time to put a few in, while the soil is still warm and the hard heat is behind us.
Ask the volunteers what does well on your street, take a seed packet home, and start small. A few native plants by the back porch are a good start. Boerne gardeners have their own chance this weekend at a native plant sale at Herff Farm.
Hero photo: Renegomezphotography / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and resized.
