Welcome to this issue of Stumped by Nature, where we notice nature lurking just beyond our screens, curate a list of outside-y events in Austin, and build community with other folks in the thick of the startup ecosystem.
In this week’s issue:
🌿 Texas sage
🌤️ Upcoming outdoors events. Like, a lot of them.
Let’s dig in!
-Nicole
PS. Have a nature-related business or nonprofit? I’m creating a directory. It’s free to join, and you can plop your business details in here.
PPS. Come meet great people who go outside together: join ATX Outsiders.
ATX OUTSIDERS EVENT RECAP
We saw bats! A lot of them! Including little Buck, who the Austin Bat Refuge released back into the wild after some rehab. Zoom in to look at that face! The wing!
One of many highlights: Skip explained how he captured the footage at 1:17 of his 2024 work with David Attenborough. Stop what you’re doing to watch this clip, because it’s absolutely wild.
The Bat City project is still open to business sponsors and donations—more info here.
Bats!
Upcoming events I’m hosting:
Sunday, September 27: Reverse Brain Rot: read/write/Barton Springs
Monday, September 28: Austin Reading Club: solitary hobbies don’t have to be isolating
See you there!
NATURE SPOTLIGHT
Technically the first day of autumn is Tuesday.
I asked the plants if we're getting any closer to the end of summer.
But only cockroaches responded.
Today, we’re digging into Texas sage.
September 15, 2026 weather report: it’s still hot
Call it what you want
It’s not going to respond to any name, but if it would, your best bet would be Texas Sage, Texas Ranger, Purple Sage, Silverleaf, Cenizo, Barometer bush, or Leucophyllum frutescens.
As we’ve learned repeatedly with nature naming conventions, rules are made to be broken, thanks to folks neglecting to bring botanists to the party. Which is why it’s relevant to note that Texas sage is not a true sage. A true sage is a Salvia. Texas sage is Scrophulariaceae. If we ever have a Stumped by Nature spelling bee, you can bet that word will be a top contender as a tie-breaker.
Texas sage is our focal point today because of the features that give it the nickname barometer bush.
The lore: Texas sage anticipates the rain and flashes its lovely purple blooms at the first sign of storms. How moody and romantic.
The reality: Science. Texas sage is a weather-responsive species. When there’s either a rise in humidity or low atmospheric pressure, blooms often erupt. These magical conditions happen to occur before or after rain.
Our current reality: any purple blooms are dead or rapidly dying because, ah yes, it’s still hot.
September 16, 2026: shriveled, but not wholly dispirited
Facets and features
Maybe if we repeat Scrophulariaceae over and over it’ll grow on us. It means Texas sage has a figwort family crest, which also means it’s a relative of the snapdragon, which is clearly on the plant-namers’ good side
Texas sage has dense, stellate leaves. Today I learned stellate means star-shaped
Silvery hairs give it a dusty, ash-gray look
Flowers last less than two days, replaced by fresh adjacent blooms if conditions hold
Texas sage survives summer by: 1. botanical sweating, aka transpiration and 2. leaf hairs, aka trichomes. These provide a one-two punch of insulating from heat and wrapping the leaves in a cloud of cooler air
Silvery leaves reflect a meaningful amount of sunlight
They can grow 5-8 feet tall, and can bloom repeatedly throughout the year
They get leggy, so pruning is a yes to encourage more blooms and general social gravitas
Solitary bees and butterflies are big fans, with this nectar source available when many other plants have wilted in oppressive heat
Theona checkerspot and calleta silkmoth caterpillars use it as a host plant
It’s extremely low-maintenance once established, fully embracing drought and heat
All this to say, Texas sage is made for the desert
Bloom boom
If, unlike Texas sage, you’re not drought/heat tolerant:
It’s going to cool down eventually.
Right?
Right.
Absolutely.
Despite currently reading The Power of Now, I’m very aware we’re at the edge of our driest stretch of the year, and the summer heat dome will inevitably break down as tropical moisture becomes more available. October gives hope for a wetter, purpler month than September.
Is it going to rain soon? Probably not.
Is it supposed to? Also no.
So at this limping phase of the season, you might notice the animals and bugs getting particularly crawly and especially into suburbia. The creek beds are dust. The food supply is crispy. The foxes keep trying to eat my chickens. The deer are absolutely everywhere in NW Austin, and we mutually terrified each other in my yard before sunrise Wednesday morning, as I walked past my day-one-beekeeping-impulse-Texas-sage-purchase on the way to pilates.
And you may notice the thriving cockroaches. Hooray for additional drought-tolerant miracles.
September 15, 2026
Second opinion
If you don’t want to take the wisdom of just the barometer bush, you can look to the following nature cues for signs of a shift in weather and/or season:
Mushrooms are trailing indicators that rain happened in previous days, which is useful if you’ve been holed up with robots and neglected the real world for a minute
Snails bail on their holes after rain, then quickly desiccate if the sun blazes before they’ve found cover. You can witness a valiant effort to avoid the D
Spirit Halloween is back with its guerrilla commercial real estate vacancy efforts
The Humans are clutching pumpkin spice lattes
The skeletons are emerging from wherever people store skeletons
Sometimes drought is essential
Lean, rocky, sandy limestone soil is a must—Texas sage would be weak and floppy in rich soil.
A downpour is when it becomes its most vibrant.
And sometimes it’s okay to just botanically sweat our way through until the pressure drops.
UPCOMING EVENTS
🗓️ September 17: Pumpkin Nights opens: and it’s worth the seasonal evening
🗓️ September 18: Trail Talks: 85% chance I’ll be there!
🗓️ September 18: Friday Co-Work: On a patio if weather is humane. Good people regardless.
🗓️ September 18: Volleyball Open Free Play: get you some sand
🗓️ September 18: Adult Night Hike: treat yourself to nocturnal activities
🗓️ September 19: Mulching at Mile Zero: a chance to whisper kind words to some stressed out trees
🗓️ September 19: Garden Gnome Mushroom Walk and Opening Celebration: dressing up like a gnome is not forbidden. Includes promises of woodland mischief
🗓️ September 19: Bug Walk with Wizzie Brown: hang out with an entomologist (!)
🗓️ September 19: Kayak Trash Cleanup: you’ve wanted to get on the water. You sure can.
🗓️ September 19: Taste of Place: This time you can lick the wildlife
🗓️ September 19: The Board Walks: Walk + connect
🗓️ September 19: Y'all Out Boy: perhaps you need an outside night with your favorite emo hits back to back
🗓️ September 20: Fall Equinox Celebration & Solar Cookout: The kid-friendly party your weekend requires
🗓️ September 20: Paint & Sip: paired with a ranch and a sommelier
🗓️ September 20: Nursery Tour: baby plants
🗓️ September 20: Guided Garden Tour: meet at the flagpole for horticultural insights
🗓️ September 21: Plant Swap & Ice Cream Social: Pond people, unite
🗓️ September 22: Hill Climbers Tuesday Ride: bike it out
🗓️ September 22: Tuesday Twilights: Flowers and music at dusk
🗓️ September 22: Astronomy on Tap: Cenozoic is a word they’re using, so plenty to learn here
🗓️ September 22: Late at the Lake: spit some fire at the open mic
🗓️ September 22: S’mores Social: First Night of Fall Celebration: dare you to play chubby bunny
🗓️ September 23: WASPS: The Beauty & Benefits: actual wasps
🗓️ September 25-26: WaterWork: see the show from land or Lake
🗓️ September 26: Wild Ride 2026: an exclusive chance to mountain bike in this usually-private gem
PANTRY MOTH UPDATE
I wrote about my pantry moth infestation on June 25, 2026.
I’m aiming for at least 45 days without a moth to reclaim my pantry.
Resisting the unethical urge to borrow a bat
That’s all for this week!
In the meantime, I hope you find soil where you don’t feel weak and floppy.
-Nicole
OPTIONAL SIDE QUESTS
🪵 Need to metabolize something? I help people write. Let’s chat.
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🪵 Are you sitting on a misogi-esque story? Spill.
🪵 Follow my calendar to know when we’re rallying.
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