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CDRI Desert NewsFlash
February 2026
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Photo by Will Southerland.
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The Annual Cactus & Succulent Sale
Opens Monday, March 16
Join us for CDRI’s Annual Cactus and Succulent Sale March 16. The sale will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will continue throughout the week until all plants are sold, with the best selection available on Monday morning.
The sale features Chihuahuan Desert cacti grown from either seed or offsets. We are excited to offer an incredible selection of plants sourced from Southwestern growers, including some cacti from CDRI. Our featured growers are:
Green Lake Growers, Seagoville, Texas
Miles to Go - Cacti & Succulents, Cortaro, Arizona
Comanche Yucca, Fort Stockton, Texas
Mountain States Wholesale Nursery, Cochise, Arizona
A complete list of the plants available in this year’s sale will be published in next month’s Desert NewsFlash. It will also be posted on Facebook and Instagram as soon as it's available.
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The Central Texas Trail Tamers are Returning
The Central Texas Trail Tamers, a nonprofit volunteer organization, will be at CDRI from March 1 to March 7. Their goal is to rework a section of the trail just beyond Lion’s Head Hill to make it more accessible and better defined. They will also work to improve some sections of Clayton’s Overlook Trail.
In addition to building and repairing trail systems, the Trail Tamers encourage local volunteers to get involved to learn about trail construction. Participants will learn about trail building, including proper use of tools, and key considerations for trail design and modification, such as following the natural contours of the land, designing for proper drainage to prevent erosion, and ensuring hiker safety across varying skill levels.
If you would like to take part in this week-long experience, please contact Lisa Gordon at lgordon@cdri.org.
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Water in the Desert 2026
Water in the Desert 2026 is a conference to be held at Sul Ross State University (SRSU) on the status of water in the Chihuahuan Desert, featuring discussions with landowners, scientists, policymakers, and community members on the complex and pressing water issues facing our desert region.
CDRI will participate by offering conference registrants free guided hikes on Friday, February 13, at 10:00 a.m. One hike leads through the Botanical Gardens, while the other is a more strenuous hike to Modesta Canyon, which features a year-round spring.
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2nd Annual Seed Swap, February 28
Inspired by the enthusiastic response we experienced at our first seed swap last year, we’re excited to announce the return of CDRI’s Native Plant Seed Swap! As the event is a “swap”, please bring seeds you collected over the past year to share with others. It’s all right if you find yourself without a bounty of seeds to bring to the swap. There will be plenty to take home, and you can save seeds from this year’s harvest for next year’s swap.
The event will start with a brief talk led by Head Gardener, Faith Hille-Dishron, who will share helpful tips for growing beautiful native plants from seed. Faith will also offer helpful tips about collecting the seeds.
Please note that all seeds offered must be native to the Trans-Pecos Region, have been harvested last fall, and not be hybrids or genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
If you’re bringing seeds, please include your name, the plant name, and the origin of the plant that produced the seeds on the envelope or packet.
We invite everyone who takes seeds home to take photos and share your garden success stories with us.
Details about the seed swap are provided below.
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Save the Date for the
Conant Lecture on April 2
We’re excited to announce that our guest lecturer for the spring 2026 Roger Conant Distinguished Guest Lecture will be one of our most popular speakers, author and naturalist James Cornett. His lecture is titled “Encounter with a Hungry Cougar,” where he will discuss his close call with a mountain lion in the Baboquivari Mountains of Southern Arizona.
Cornett is a desert ecologist living in Palm Springs, California (winter) and Park City, Utah (summer). He recently appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, where he discussed the impact of climate change on Joshua trees. He is one of the West’s most prolific writers with forty-five books and dozens of scientific papers. His research projects have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Riverside Press-Enterprise, the Arizona Republic, and the Desert Sun, among many others. Cornett enjoys sharing his love of desert ecology through writing, teaching, and lecturing. He recently completed a visit to all nine of the world’s great deserts and is currently writing a book about his travels and research in each.
Several of Cornett's bestselling books are available in our Gift Shop, including “The Chihuahuan Desert,” “Indian Uses of Native Plants,” and “The Splendid Ocotillo.” After his lecture, he will be present to sign copies of his most recent books.
His previous lectures covered the Greater Roadrunner and another on the relationship between Ocotillos and Hummingbirds.
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An Update on the Hortis Project
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Volunteer Jim Fissel and Head Gardener Faith Hille-Dishron are making significant progress cataloging the cacti in the greenhouse by uploading data for each individual plant into the Hortis database. Photo by Jim Fissel.
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In last month’s Desert NewsFlash, we told you about the progress made in uploading information on the plants in the Botanical Gardens into the Hortis database. Since that report, Head Gardener Faith Hille-Dishron and volunteer Jim Fissel have worked nearly every day in January uploading data for each cactus in the cactus greenhouse. As of January 30, they had uploaded data for 900 cacti.
The collection is among the largest of Chihuahuan Desert cacti worldwide, with specimens represented from throughout the Chihuahuan Desert, including Mexico.
Each cactus has been meticulously cataloged over the years, with information on its provenance and repotting dates recorded on tiny identification sticks for each cactus. Tongs have proven to be a valuable tool as Faith and Jim carefully reach through sharp cactus spines to retrieve the sticks and enter the data into the database.
We began choosing a database to record all our plant data a year ago. What initially appeared to be a daunting task has instead become our success story. Hortis has proven to be user-friendly and provides all the necessary features to set up and maintain the database well into the future.
Faith, Jim, and Mady Kitchens have previously entered data for the Botanical Gardens into Hortis, with ongoing photo updates and the addition of historical data. Botanical Garden information is available to the public at https://cdri.hortis.com/public/site/cdri/browse.
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Alpine's Wildlife Weekend
CDRI was honored to participate in Alpine's Wildlife Weekend, which took place the last weekend of January. On Saturday, Mady Kitchens managed CDRI’s booth and gave a presentation about desert animal tracks.
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Visiting Groups and Volunteer Activities
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High School Seniors from Austin Vandergrift Viper Senior Swimmers 2026 and their dads enjoyed a day hiking at the nature center. Warren Shaul was their guide. Photo by Oliver Orth.
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Volunteers helped remove newly sprouted junipers. Pictured are Warren Shaul, Allen Tscheyka, Kathryn Busby, andMatt Cochran. Anne Adams also helped. Faith Hille-Dishron, Head Gardener, led the group.
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The roadside leading to CDRI along Hwy. 118 is always beautiful thanks to volunteers who help us maintain the two mile stretch as a part of our partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation's Adopt-a-Highway program. Assisting with the cleanup were Kathryn Busby, Pam Gaddis, Rob Lee, Alan Tscheyka, Sherry Cardino, Warren Shaul, and Matt Cochran. CDRI Site Manager, Scott Whitener, (in the back with the great smile) led the activity.
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| In case you missed it, CDRI was featured on the Texas Bucket List.
Don't forget to add CDRI to your Bucket List!
Until next time, we wish you happy trails!
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Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute, P.O. Box 905, Fort Davis, TX 79734
432.364.2499
www.cdri.org
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