400 acres of Blackland Prairie restored

Bluestem Park in Alliance Town Center, Ft. Worth, Texas. Photo by John Hart Asher.

At the Mueller Development in Austin, blackland prairie plants grow again on land that had been airport runways for half a century. In Dallas, stretches of lawn at the George W. Bush Presidential Center feature this tall grass prairie. Down the road in Fort Worth, a meandering stream and blackland prairie plants have replaced what had served as a cattle pasture and pond for decades. And on a green rooftop in Central Texas, nearly 200 types of plants and blackland prairie grasses grow above bedrooms and kitchens, challenging our notion of where prairie restoration can occur.

All of these projects are part of the Wildflower Center's efforts to restore Blackland Prairie - one of the most endangered ecosystems in the U.S. Prairie once dominated Midwestern landscapes from Texas to Canada, but less than 1 percent remains in Texas. Lost along with it are deep-rooted grasses that create a fertile soil and a resilient ecosystem that improves the environment and provides habitat to wide-ranging wildlife.

To date, the Center has restored elements of Blackland Prairie on 400 acres in cities across Texas, providing people with a chance to deepen their connection to nature where they live, work and play. 

Helped create 90,000 acres of native landscapes

At the Bush Presidential Center near downtown Dallas, urbanites and bees alike enjoy lush native landscapes. Photo by John Clark.

For more than a decade, the Wildflower Center’s ecological designers have studied how to enhance landscapes with native plants and used those insights to help clients restore and create sustainable landscapes. The Center’s consulting work touches on all stages of a landscape’s development, from guiding the development of a site’s restoration plan, to providing detailed lists of native plants and materials for recreating ecosystems and using prescribed fire and other tools for maintaining a healthy landscape.

The vibrant work is showcased at sites as diverse as the Kennedy Space Center in Houston, a residential cliff dwelling in Austin, the Mission Reach in San Antonio and the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. 

Helped rejuvenate a unique forest with 300,000 "Lost Pines"

Loblolly pine seedlings growing at the Wildflower Center.

After a devastating 2011 wildfire in Bastrop, Texas, that burned 33,000-plus acres of loblolly pines, the Wildflower Center grew more than 300,000 of these trees for restoration efforts. As of 2015, those pines loblolly pine saplings have been planted on residential properties and at a Boy Scout camp in Bastrop County as part of major restoration projects continuing in the rare Lost Pines ecosystem..

This project used Lost Pines loblolly seed that had been stored for future purposes – a reminder of the need to plan for the unexpected when it comes to keeping native landscapes alive.