Talks & Walks Calendar

A Deep Dive into North Texas Ecotone & its Natural Wonders

Sunday, March 22 – 3 to 4:15 pm
arrive at 2:30 pm

Location: North Haven Gardens https://nhg.com/
7700 Northaven Rd, Dallas, TX 75230
https://maps.app.goo.gl/1bPAZTAujqtqWgqEA

Greater Dallas Organic Gardening Club
https://www.gdogc.org/

Amy Martin, author of Wild DFW: Explore the Amazing Nature Around Dallas-Fort Worth (https://Wild-DFW.com), will make you curious about what’s beneath your feet. Why is North Texas an epic ecotone? What is the Great Trinity Forest the easternmost example of? How do tilted layers of bedrock shape our three ecoregions, foster a plethora of soil types, and lead to our plant and wildlife diversity. And why did they tilt?

Learn of places to experience these tenets firsthand from the book’s 25 hiking adventures. Enjoy astounding photography by skilled naturalists of hardwood bottomland forests and Eastern Cross Timbers, soaring limestone escarpments, lush wetlands, and rare remnants of Blackland and Fort Worth Prairies. Get to know a diverse community of volunteers working for nature. Follow Wild DFW on Facebook and Instagram.

Photo by Vijay Tanwar that shows where Austin Chalk meets Eagle Ford Shale.

Never See North Texas Nature the Same Way Again

Rockwall Butterfly Brigade
https://www.facebook.com/RockwallButterflyBrigade/

April 7 Tues – 6:30 pm

private residence location, inquire for address

Author and naturalist Amy Martin nearly died four years ago from a severely broken neck. She learned to walk again by hiking natural trails. Those hikes are an integral part of Wild DFW: Explore the Amazing Nature Around Dallas-Fort Worth. Hear her inspiring story woven with rhapsodic passages from the book.

Learn how a little knowledge about natural history and ecology can transform your perception of North Texas nature. Astounding color photos bring alive peak experiences from the 25 featured hiking adventures through hardwood bottomland forests and Eastern Cross Timbers, soaring limestone escarpments, lush wetlands, and rare remnants of Blackland and Fort Worth Prairies.

Wild DFW is Martin’s way of facilitating others to find the healing power of nature and the natural wonder she felt as a child. Get to know a diverse community of volunteers working for nature.

Photo of Sunset Cove at Ray Roberts Lake State Park by Denise Thompson.

Native Plants and Prairies Day 2026

Saturday, May 2, 2026
10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Bath House Cultural Center at White Rock Lake
521 East Lawther Drive, Dallas, TX

Walks and talks about the Blackland Prairie and its wildlife, plus lots of booths and native plant sales. Kids activities.

Come visit my Wild DFW table on the back porch! Buy a book to be signed or bring one you’ve already bought. Ask questions about anything in the book.

Also available: How to Treat the Poison Ivy and Poison Oak Rash, Prevent Exposure and Eradicate the Plant. 

Get info on:
<> Ned Fritz Legacy

<> Friends of Piedmont Ridge

<> Friends of the Forest: Dallas

<> Greenbelt Guild (Eastwood)

<> Ned & Genie Fritz Texas Buckeye Trail Restoration

 

Ned Fritz: From Bachman Greenbelt to Texas Wilderness

May 12 Tuesday – 6:30 to 7:45 pm

Bachman Lake Dallas Public Library
9480 Webb Chapel Rd, Dallas, TX 75220

Hosted by @Friends of Bachman Lake
https://www.friendsofbachmanlake.org/

Ned Fritz, Texas’s greatest environmentalist, found his first inspiration off Bachman Creek, which bisected his property on Cochran Chapel Rd. A legend in Texas nature preservation — he prevented the Trinity from being turned into a barge canal, helped save the Big Thicket, established Texas wilderness areas, and much more — when he got wind of city plans to channelize the creek, this he would not abide. He formed a group, Save Open Space, to rally the neighborhood and nature lovers across the city. In the process, he introduced the concept of greenbelts to the city. Learn about the man who loved Texas, but no place more so than Bachman Creek, on whose banks he lived with his family for over five decades.

A journalist and writer for over 40 years Amy Martin is the author of Wild DFW: Explore the Amazing Nature Around Dallas-Fort Worth (Wild-DFW.com) on Timber Press. She is senior features writer for Green Source Texas (GreenSourceTexas.org). A current project is Ned Fritz Legacy (NedFritz.com) a biographical website of Ned Fritz Texas’ most famous environmentalist. Find her writings at Moonlady.com.

13 Things You Need to Know About the Poison Oak and Ivy Rash

Sept 24 Thur – 11:30 am to 1 pm

Myers Park & Event Center 
7117 Co Rd 166, McKinney, TX 75071

In this subversively funny talk, Amy Martin, author of Itchy Business: How to Treat the Poison Ivy and Poison Oak Rash, Prevent Exposure and Eradicate the Plant, shares her deep knowledge of poison oak and ivy gleaned from 12 years working in wildlife habitat management. Facts such as that soap is terrible for removing urushiol from the skin and the poison oak and ivy barrier creams that actually work.

You’ll learn how humans are the only animal allergic to poison oak and ivy, and why your immunity to poison oak and ivy can change at any time. Understand that the rash is an allergy to be managed, not a poison to be extracted, and how you respond to its allergen depends on a number of factors. Discover the herbs that are far better treating the rash than jewelweed and effective topical minerals like Milk of Magnesia. Afterwards, share your story of rash woe. It’s an entertaining talk that will leave you itching for more.