Vicki Blachman

Vicki Blachman had been a Travis County Master Gardener for over 18 years earning
advanced certification in Rainwater Harvesting, Plant Propagation, Vegetable Gardening,
Landscape Irrigation Efficiency, Junior Master Gardening, Composting, and Entomology.
She served one 3 year term as VP of community education programs, and an additional 4
years as Speakers Bureau Coordinator and speaker trainer. Finally finding the perfect fit
for her varied interests, Vicki became a member of Capital Area Master Naturalists in
2020.
She is both a trained Habitat Steward and a Monarch Steward through the National
Wildlife Federation and has completed Landscape Design certification through the Native
Plant Society of Texas. She’s repeated Jane Tillman’s class on landscaping for birds
three times (so far.)
She’s honored to assist Carol Leonardi Clark as a Hill Country representative on the
Board of “Bring Back the Monarchs to Texas”, a program of the Native Plant Society of
Texas. Reviewing applications for NPSOT’s annual BBMT grants may be her favorite
role with BBMT as it gives Vicki inspiration for new landscape designs and native plants
to use in the pollinator gardens she enjoys creating with various community groups. Her
own garden has been a Monarch Waystation and NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat for over
17 years.
Drawing on her experience as a professional chef, Vicki was a Contributing Editor for
Texas Gardener magazine writing for 7 years on growing and using culinary herbs. After
preparing food props for a Hallmark movie, she was drawn into film industry art
department and casting gigs for the next two decades.
Vicki is happiest when spreading the word about our more than 800 species of native
bees in Texas. To that end, she’s currently co-chair of the Pollinate Austin (PollinATX)
working group that worked to get Austin certified through the Xerces Society as a Bee
City USA in 2022. She’s now working on getting the city of Pflugerville certified as a
Bee City USA.
Her outlook on life is “Share your popcorn – it’s a short movie.”