The Pollinators for Texas Initiative is an ongoing collaborative partnership between Texas Master Naturalist and HEB aimed at enhancing native pollinator conservation across Texas through funding community-based habitat projects and educational outreach programs. More information may be found here.
Our Chapter has won three Pollinators for Texas grants! The Hill Country Arts Foundation Initiative received an award in 2026, YMCA Roberts Ranch received an award in 2025, and the Kerr County Courthouse Pollinator Garden received an award in 2024.
Hill Country Arts Foundation
The Chapter has received $4,000.00 to support native pollinators with The Hill Country Arts Foundation (HCAF). This project aims to form an art-pollinator alliance by incorporating pollinator education on campus. This initiative will transform the outdoor art gallery sculpture garden area and the Johnson Creek riparian pathway area into living classrooms featuring native plant gardens. Notable elements include a milkweed garden to feed monarch butterfly caterpillars, a demonstration riparian habitat garden, and a natural dye garden that will help students connect with native pollinator plants while learning how to create textile dyes from them. The project is located at 120 Point Theatre Rd. Ingram, TX 78025-3303.
“By establishing pollinator and dye gardens at HCAF, we are creating spaces that support both wildlife and learning,” says Patricia Poore, Hill Country Chapter project lead. “These gardens demonstrate how native plants can sustain ecosystems while also inspiring creativity and connection.”
YMCA Roberts Ranch
Over this past year the Hill Country Chapter Texas Master Naturalists in partnership with YMCA Roberts Ranch have offered no-cost, outdoor education in our new Pollinators For Texas supported pollinator garden to over 953 visitors including underserved youth and families from diverse backgrounds from San Antonio and the Hill Country! Participants were led in planting 350 native pollinators and experienced hands-on activities and games that communicated key ecological concepts of pollinator importance, habitat diversity, soil health, and water conservation as they contributed to expanding the garden. Several regional partners such as the Native Plant Society of Texas and the San Antonio Botanical Gardens have pledged in-kind support to keep this project going and sustainable through volunteerism and native seed propagation for future plantings. This space has already proven not only to be a cradle for important pollinators, but also a springboard into habitat rehabilitation and community engagement for groups of all ages and abilities to deepen their connection to the Texas Hill Country.
Thanks to the support from the Pollinators for Texas program, YMCA Roberts Ranch has:
- Provided a beautiful well-provisioned native pollinator garden that provides habitat to pollinator insects and hummingbirds and other wildlife.
- Utilized the garden for the enjoyment and education of the public, especially for marginalized communities.
- Promoted volunteerism by serving as an ongoing Texas Master Naturalist programming site for leading youth/family outdoor education and habitat remediation projects
- Served as a tangible example of water-wise and native plant gardening.
Over 85 unique species were planted as part of this initiative and native seeds are being propagated for future pollinator gardens and onsite habitat remediation projects.
A big thank you to H-E-B for their generous support in this initiative and collaboration with the Texas Master Naturalist Program. Together, we’re working to safeguard and enhance native pollinator populations across Texas!
Kerrville County Courthouse Pollinator Garden
Our Pollinators for Texas project is complete, and we couldn’t be more proud of the impact we’ve made! With the generous support from H-E-B and in collaboration with the Texas Master Naturalists Program, we’ve been able to establish a beautiful demonstration garden at every public entrance to our Kerr County Courthouse. Thousands of people will now be exposed to these pollinator-friendly, Texas-native plant gardens as they enter and exit the Courthouse.
We have established a kiosk to rotate educational materials on all topics relevant to pollinator-friendly gardening and have placed high-visibility signs on our demonstration plants. The bees, butterflies and dragonflies are now showing up to do their part to inspire the public. Our hard work was rewarded this week by first sighting this year of Monarch butterflies – six on one Whitemist shrub!
This project wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible funding and resources provided and we are so grateful for the opportunity to contribute to native pollinator conservation in our community. A huge thank you to H-E-B and the Texas Master Naturalist Program for your unwavering support. Together, we are making lasting difference for native pollinators!
Kerr Country Courthouse Pollinator Garden Team
p.s. We were rewarded with our first Monarch larva in the Spring of 2026
