Backyard Bird Paradise

$25 Fee.

Haeley Giambalvo – Native Plant Influencer and Author

Presentation Summary

Bring your yard to life with bird activity by landscaping with native plants! This presentation will explore how our native Texas plants provide the food, shelter, and nesting sites that birds need to thrive. You’ll discover how native plants not only produce seeds and berries for birds, but also attract the insects that are a critical food source for many species. Learn which plants attract different birds, how to create a bird-friendly habitat year-round, and simple design tips to transform your yard into the most popular one on the block for birds!

Biography

Haeley Giambalvo serves as the VP Communications for the Native Plant Society of Texas. She has been a native plant enthusiast ever since becoming a Texas Master Naturalist in 2019. A professional blogger and online content creator for the past decade, Haeley launched NativeBackyards.com in 2020 to encourage people to help the Earth from their own yards by growing native plants. Over the last five years, Haeley has transformed her San Antonio backyard with Texas native plants and turned it into a haven for butterflies, bees, and birds while helping thousands of native plant newbies make small but impactful changes to their own yards. Her books Native Plant Gardening for Beginners and My Garden Nature Journal are available on Amazon. Haeley has a degree in Marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in San Antonio with her husband and two teenage daughters. 

6:30 p.m. – Growing Plants from the Ground Up

Beth McMahon – Horticulture Agent, Gillespie County 

Presentation Summary

Have you ever wanted to have a green thumb so you can grow your own bird attracting plants? Keeping plants alive can seem like a daunting task, but doesn’t have to be. AgriLife Extension Agent Beth McMahon will talk on the basics of plant care, establishing plant beds and general plant maintenance.

Biography

Elizabeth “Beth” McMahon graduated from Texas A&M University in December 2010 with a double major in Rangeland Ecology and Management and Horticulture. She interned at the Grand Canyon National Park from February 2011 to July 2011 as one of their native plant nursery interns. Following this she was accepted into Oklahoma State University, where she got her Master of Science working on propagation efforts of the Chickasaw Plum. She joined AgriLife Extension first by working as a research assistant at the AgriLife Extension Viticulture and Fruit Lab, before transferring to the Brazoria County Horticulture Extension Agent position in January 2015. She moved to the Gillespie County Horticulture Extension Agent position in late July 2016 and works there currently, leading home and commercial horticulture programs, as well as coaching the local 4-H Range & Plant ID team. In her spare time she enjoys cooking and gardening.