Gala

Making An Impact

HOW DOES MY GIFT MAKE AN IMPACT?

Climate extremes. Water shortages. Invasive species. Our work has never been more important or more relevant. With your support, the Wildflower Center carries out its mission through education, conservation, research and demonstration, and we're making a difference. Some highlights from the past year:

Education

Teaching the world about native plants

• Our online native plant database was used more than 5 million times
• A record 5,920 children and their families attended Nature Nights
• Mr. Smarty Plants answered 7,673 questions from around the U.S.
• 183 school and youth groups visited the Center

Conservation

Protecting the future

• Collected and banked more than 93,000 seeds from native Texas plants
• Collected and banked 10,950 seeds from threatened and endangered species
• Trained 1,675 citizen scientists to identify invasive species and endangered or threatened native species

Research

Applying science to landscape design

• Introduced HABITURF™ turf grass seed mix, a mixture of native grass species that outperformed common non-native lawn species and single-species native lawns in our research
• Completed 10 years of field research on land management techniques ranchers can use to restore native grasses, and published papers in six scientific journals
• Began a 3-year study funded by Huntsman International on whether the water-handling capacity of green roofs can be improved for use in warmer climates

Demonstration

Providing an example

• More than 91,000 people visited the Wildflower Center
• Installed the new admissions kioask
• Participated in 13 major consulting projects showcasing native plants and sustainable landscape design
• Certified 11 pilot projects that met the criteria for a rating under Sustainable Sites Initiative