Hi, I'm the Plant Bat!

I live with my family at the Plant Bat Habitat, a single-family home in Austin, TX that came with a 4500 sq ft yard.

When we first started growing native plants, it was to conserve water, save time on maintenance, and for their beauty. Over time, we learned more about the ecological benefits of native plants. Nature’s Best Hope, a renowned book on the subject, was especially eye-opening. Indeed, we could see for ourselves all the creatures that started to visit and thrive in our yard — bees and wasps, butterflies and moths, fireflies, spiders, lizards, hummingbirds and songbirds. We watched caterpillars wriggling, munching, forming cocoons. My kids got to watch them turn into butterflies.

We began to plant a wider selection of natives so we could have nectar, pollen, seeds and berries through a greater part of the year, and more larval hosts for caterpillars, eventually acquiring over 100 unique species of Texas natives. We became mindful about overwintering insects, and started to leave the leaves. We are now a proud Certified Wildlife Habitat.

Where does the plant data on the site come from?

I’m indebted to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the Native Plant Society of Texas websites, and the USDA Plant Database for most of the plant profile data. Where this information was incomplete, I read through plant descriptions on nursery websites, and also used personal experience, to fill in the missing fields. All the photos and content on this website are mine, unless stated otherwise.

Why “Plant Bat”?

Because I’m batty about native plants. Someone called me that once, and while they weren’t being entirely complimentary, the name stuck. Then there’s the Austin bat connection too.