It’s an overcast day in November, and Amy Medley, a lead horticulturalist at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, stands on what appears to be a bare patch of decomposed granite at the center’s 300-acre property in South Austin. Medley’s work at the center varies daily but focuses on taking care of gardens and educating guests about native plants. Raised in a town near New Orleans, she received her degree in horticulture at Louisiana State University and has worked at the center for five years. She loves that her job has “purpose and meaning,” she says. “It’s centered around something very important: native plants. I love that I get to show how beautiful and resilient they are.”