Garden News is published three times per year by the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and the Friends of the Garden.
The State Botanical Garden of Georgia is a public non-profit educational organization within the Office of Public Service & Outreach at the University of Georgia.
DIRECTOR
Jennifer Cruse-Sanders
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
Susana Alvarado . Tina Christie
Laurel Clark . James Gilstrap
Ellie Lancaster . Lisa Nation
Adam Stewart . Shené Stroud
DEVELOPMENT
Johnathon Barrett
Kimberly Futrell
EDUCATION
Cora Keber
Audrey Mitchell . Emory Perry
HORTICULTURE
Jason Young
Joey Allen . Alex Ankirskiy
Gareth Crosby . Carolyn Dyer
Emily James . Sheldon Jones
Katie McCollum . Jim Moneyhun
Brian Santos
Heather Alley . Jennifer Ceska
Melanie Flood . Emily Laske
Will Rogers . Zachary Wood
Daun Fest
Andrea Fischer . Noel Fortunato
Adam Lowe . Deirdre Peters
FROM THE DIRECTOR
From small seeds grow mighty trees, or so the saying goes. It is truly a remarkable thing when you stop to think about the clever strategies flowering plants use to disperse the next generation of plants. Seeds, essentially a baby plant with a packed lunch (endosperm or seed leaves) and a protective coat, have all that is needed for a new plant to travel across the landscape and establish a life in a novel location, sometimes far away from the parent plant.
Most seeds could fit into the palm of your hand, yet given the opportunity to germinate and grow, tiny seeds become the incredible diversity of plants that support life on earth. This spring, we will witness the remarkable growth of seeds into new plants, and flowers to produce the next generation of seeds across our gardens and natural areas.
In this issue, we learn about mighty trees and how best to grow them from our director of horticulture and grounds. Beginning with an understanding of how the shape of a young tree will lead to the ideal growth form for the perfect garden shade tree to strategies for helping a new tree be successful in your garden.
Native plant seeds are the key to the growth of our successful conservation program. Our natural areas conservation coordinator provides insights into the importance of native seeds and how essential they are to creating healthy landscapes that support us and natural systems around us. Native seed programs depend on partnerships across Georgia and the southeastern U.S. When agencies, educational institutions, nonprofits and
private landowners cooperate, it leads to success for native plants. One important consideration is where a seed comes from and how to prepare and grow it so that it will thrive where it is planted.
From our director of education, we learn about updates for Learning by Leading, an experiential learning program for UGA students with garden staff serving as mentors. From the seed of an idea planted in 2017, the program has grown to include nearly 200 students who have participated in projects across the garden, including ArcGIS mapping plant collections to heirloom apple propagation, seed saving and restoration.
Other highlights in this issue include a new Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum feature, spotlights on students and volunteers and a great story about how our conservation, education and horticulture work to increase pollinator habitats across Georgia has been supported by the Vaughn-Jordan Foundation.
We thank you for your support as Friends of the State Botanical Garden! I hope to see you in the garden this spring.
Jennifer Cruse-Sanders, director
SCIENCE & CONSERVATION
The importance of native seeds
Melanie Flood, natural areas conservation coordinator
We all know the importance of having native plants on the landscape. In the world we live in today, planting natives is a tremendous help in providing habitat for wildlife, whether that’s in a home garden or a natural restoration setting.
Have you ever wondered where those native plants come from? We aren’t digging up plants and transplanting them elsewhere. They have to be grown from seed. The start of any plant, native or not, is the seed.
So then, where do the seeds come from? Who grows the plants that make the seeds? Who collects the seeds? Who cares for the seeds? These are all excellent questions, and it’s a long process that involves many different partners, agencies, organizations and farmers.
SEEDS OF SUCCESS NATIONAL SEED PROGRAM
One of the leaders in native seed collection is a program through the Bureau of Land Management called the Seeds of Success National Seed Program. SOS started in 2000 and has grown significantly in the last 23 years, including more partnerships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service, Tribal Nations and many more.
Initially targeting the western U.S., SOS was focused on collecting seeds to be used for restoration after wildfires. After Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast in 2012, SOS began SOS East, which focused seed collection efforts on coastal and wetland species.
Seeing the importance of a nationwide sustainable collection protocol, SOS has expanded into the Southeast by partnering with the Southeastern Grasslands Institute, focusing on grassland species.
SOUTHEASTERN GRASSLANDS
According to the Southeastern Plant Conservation Alliance, the southeastern U.S. is considered a biodiversity hotspot, primarily due to the abundance of grasslands. A grassland can come in many forms, including the more commonly recognized prairies and meadows to the less recognized herbaceous forb and graminoid-dominated habitats like glades, riverscours, bogs and marshes.
These habitats are threatened by human expansion and its many side effects, such as agriculture, urbanization, invasives and fire suppression. The seed bank stored in the soil will only last through so much disturbance. For areas that have been depleted for decades or even centuries, we cannot rely on the seed bank alone to restore a habitat to its original state. The need for readily available plant materials to aid in restoration, like access to native plant seed, is needed now more than ever.
The seed collected for this project is typically cleaned and shipped to be stored in proper conditions until needed for restoration. The goal is to collect local ecotype seed, seeds from plants within specific ecoregions.
The idea is that plants evolved to thrive where they grow. For example, the soils of the coastal plain are vastly different from those in the mountains. Although many species occur in both of these ecoregions, it’s best to have seed from the mountains to aid in restoration efforts in the mountains, just as it’s best to have seed from the coastal plain to aid in restoration efforts in the coastal plain.
SOS also targets common workhorse species. These species are quick to take root, providing stabilization and quick habitat for wildlife to return to a disturbed landscape.
The State Botanical Garden’s science and conservation team has partnered with SGI to collect seeds from Georgia and South Carolina. Marcello DeVitis is the director of the Southeast Native Seed Program at SGI. He works closely with USFWS to coordinate SOS Southeast partnerships.
Along with the garden, SGI is partnered with the Audubon Society, the North Carolina Botanical Garden and the Jones Center at Ichauway, to name a few. Through these partnerships, SOS Southeast covers 10 states within the Southeast, from Virginia to Louisiana.
The State Botanical Garden is proud to be part of this initiative, and we hope to grow our local resources in Georgia to help streamline and enhance restoration efforts in the future.
LEFT: Zach Wood collects seed from a large population of Tripsacum dactyloides–-Eastern Gama grass.
BELOW: Jordan Argrett and Lauren Ulich of Upstate Forever in South Carolina check the maturation of Chasmanthium sessiliflorum seeds.
RIGHT: Jennifer Ceska collects seeds of Danthonia sericea.
THE SOUTHEAST NATIVE SEED PROGRAM PARTNERSHIPS
HORTICULTURE
Selecting and planting young trees
Jason Young, director of horticulture and grounds
Trees can bring wonderful shade to a garden, commemorate an achievement and outlive the hardiest of all of us. Trees can bring age and “bones” to a garden that few other additions can achieve.
I have a passion for trees; it would be an understatement to say, “I love trees!” With this article, I hope to start a conversation that can go on throughout our newsletters about these permanent garden residents and how to care for them to get the most out of your trees. The first steps with any trees are nursery selection and planting. These two items are the most important parts of a garden tree’s life.
Trees grow from their tips and expand outward on all surfaces. If you put a nail in a tree, it will never get any higher off the ground and will soon be swallowed by the expanding tree. This is important because selecting for good growing points on your tree is key. The trees expand every year from these growing tips, so they get taller, but the trunk never moves.
Now that we know a little about tree growth let’s discuss selecting a tree from a nursery. Trees need to be selected that have a good “central leader.” This will direct the tree high into the air to form the tall, handsome tree we all deserve.
A good “central leader” means having one growing point high above all the others. In illustration (A), you can see a young tree
with a good central leader, and in (B), a tree that does not. A good central leader guides the tree to keep growing higher and higher due to plant hormones.
The top vertical growing point produces a hormone (Auxin) that prevents all other growing points from growing higher than it. Finding a nursery tree with a defined “central leader” can be difficult because most shoppers want a tree that looks “full.” This happens when a central leader is cut, the hormone control is broken, and the side branches start to overtake the cut leader.
People select “full” or topped trees because a young tree with a good
central leader can be ugly. It looks like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, all sticks with a few tufts of leaves. I hope you can look past this at the long-term goal of a wonderful garden shade tree.
Fast forward 10 years, we can see the difference in the illustration. (C) has grown tall and had the lower limbs removed. The (D) tree won’t spread its upper limbs out and develop into a wonderful garden shade tree that can be planted under, played under or sat
Cunder on a bench. The few awkward years are worth the end result; five years with a good central leader will give you 40-100 years with a great tree.
Once a tree with great structure has been selected from the nursery, it’s time to plant. It’s just digging a hole and dropping in the tree, but the devil is in the details.
First, let’s talk about roots. Eighty percent of the tree’s root system is in the top 18 inches of soil. Tree roots breathe oxygen just like us, and below 18 inches, the amount of oxygen drops drastically. Knowing this about roots helps us know how we dig the hole. We don’t want a deep hole; we want a wide hole.
The hole should be three times wider than the pot or root ball. Digging a wide hole breaks up the soil around the newly planted tree, allowing the new fine roots to move out and away where there is more water to absorb.
The hole for the tree should be 2 inches shallower than the height of the pot or root ball of the tree. The shallow depth allows the root flare, where the tree spreads out from the trunk to the roots to remain above the soil. The shallow hole also provides a firm foundation for the new tree so it doesn’t settle and sink.
DBe careful not to dig too deep; you can never repack the earth to the amount it was pre-digging. Once the shallow wide hole is dug, remove the pot or roll the tree with burlap into the hole; remove as much burlap as possible, but the burlap on the bottom can stay.
Fill in the hole with the soil removed and pack it around the tree with your foot. Staking a tree for the first year or two is a good idea because it doesn’t have roots to keep it upright. Tie a wide knot around the tree so it doesn’t cut into the growing trunk.
The last item to consider before starting to plant is the mature size of your tree. The tree will grow! With a good central leader, a young oak will be a monster. Consider this when placing it near homes or structures. Placing a tiny tree 20 to 30 feet from your house may look strange, but it will be perfect in 10 years. Research what tree you are buying and how big it will get; it will help you for years.
I hope this article doesn’t put you off of planting trees but encourages you to look to the future of what can be. There is a saying, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is today.”
Learning by Leading™: A five-year update on developing leadership competencies in university students
Cora Keber, director of education
Botanical gardens across the globe are working to develop a connection between human life and plant life by teaching the public, visitors and learners of all backgrounds about natural history, conservation, health and well-being, stewardship, environmental education, awareness and horticulture collections (Wassenberg et al., 2015; Botanical Gardens Conservation International, 2021).
The State Botanical Garden of Georgia is no different in seeking diverse ways to reach lifelong learners by assisting in acquiring knowledge throughout a lifetime to enhance interpersonal skills, confidence and career opportunities, which can take place in formal and informal settings (Laal & Salamati, 2012).
Being part of the University of Georgia, it is our responsibility to prepare students for the workforce. This can be done through out-of-class experiences where students can understand and develop competencies necessary for professional development (Degreenia & Sutton, 2020).
With these concepts as the driving force of the work at the State Botanical Garden, it was an exciting time in the fall of 2017 when several members of the garden’s management team started discussions of how to integrate the program model of Learning by Leading™ that had been developed and implemented in 2007 at the UC Davis Public Garden and Arboretum.
Learning by Leading at the University of Georgia, L*L@UGA, is a program developed to increase leadership skills through a comprehensive experiential learning program where students progress through a leadership ladder gaining technical, human and conceptual skills while working alongside staff mentors. The State Botanical Garden piloted Learning by Leading (L*L@UGA) in the fall of 2018.
“My favorite part about being involved with L*L@ UGA is the community and connections fostered with interns, mentors and the garden,” said the art and nature interpretation team student leader from the spring of 2021. “Through Learning by Leading™, I have become more confident in my ability to work with others and act as a leader.”
Since its inception, the L*L@UGA program has continued to grow and evolve to serve the needs of students, student leaders, interns and staff mentors. Our initial funding support came from the Office of Experiential Learning through their Innovation Grant, which funded publicity, endof-semester celebrations and an immersion experience at UC Davis in the spring of 2019 for six staff mentors.
Later support has come from Friends of the Garden for the End-of-Year Showcase when students present their past year of experience and projects. Additionally, we have received funding from the UGA Parent Leadership Council to support student leaders’ and interns’ salaries.
James Anderson, PhD, of the Department of Agriculture Leadership, Education and Communications served as a UGA Public Service and Outreach Faculty Fellow and led a six-series leadership training for staff mentors in the fall of 2018. Professional development programs such as science communication, branding and marketing, environmental interpretation and True Colors training have been offered to students and staff mentors throughout the past five years.
Each spring, we host a job fair for students to practice interview skills, and in the spring of 2022, the garden hired eight students from the fair. L*L@UGA is an approved program for Service, Leadership and Intern experiential learning credits, a university requirement for all undergraduate students.
In the spring of 2023, the garden hosted the Learning by Leading Community of Practice with faculty and staff from UC Davis Public Garden and Arboretum and UCF Community Garden and Farm.
These are just some of the key milestones we have hit over the past five years. We look forward to taking time to think strategically and plan for the future to ensure the L*L@UGA program serves the needs of the university students, staff mentors and the garden’s mission.
Interested in making a gift? Reach out to Johnathon Barrett, director of development, at 912-398-9750, or johnathon.barrett@uga.edu.
References:
Learning by Leading ™ by the numbers (since 2018):
12 different teams
15 staff mentors
171 students
20,655 estimated hours of work contributed
Student Projects: ArcGISmapping the garden collections, heirloom apple production, garden management and maintenance, volunteer service support and enhancement, seed saving, iNaturalist, plant propagation, restoration projects, off-site pollinator garden maintenance, Questival, Garden Gnomes, food/nutrition/cooking programming, museum field trip curriculum, natural dye materials and activities, Native Species Adventure Pack, social media highlights such as Flower Friday, publicity material development, Connect to Protect coloring books, garden bed designs, environmental interpretation, peanut interpretive materials
Botanic Gardens Conservation International (2021, April 18). About Botanic Gardens. https://www.bgci.org/abotu/about-botanic-garden/
Degreenia, A. & Sutton, R. (2020). An inquiry into the professional and leadership skills that employers in agricultural private and public sectors value in new graduates. NACTA Journal, 65, 74-82.
Laal, M. & Salamati, P. (2012). Lifelong learning; why do we need it? Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 31, 399 – 403. DOI:10.1016/j. sbspro.2011.12.073
Wassenberg, C., Goldenberg, M. & Soule, K. (2015). Benefits of botanical garden visitation: A means-end study. Urban Forestry & Greening, 14(1). 148-155. DOI:10.1016/j.ufug.2015.01.002
Ruthy Ashworth
Ruthy Ashworth has enjoyed the garden for many years, mainly hiking the trails, but it was the very first Winter WonderLights in 2021 that sparked her interest in becoming a garden volunteer. And what a spark! Ruthy volunteered for six nights of the light show, and her involvement at the garden has only grown.
Her favorite part of hiking the trails is the changing of the seasons. Summer has a great leaf canopy to help with the heat; fall has the changing of the leaves and opening up of the woodland. Winter feels so open with the leaves and underbrush gone and the sun shining in, and spring is a new beginning with wild flowering and everything coming back to life.
Ashworth’s advice to first-time hikers is to know their level of hiking. The trails have been evaluated to be both easy and moderate. It also depends on your own evaluation of your hiking ability. The garden trails are well-maintained and marked. Ashworth recommends taking a trail map with you the first time you try the garden trails.
She likes hiking and traveling, and often the two are combined. Since being a garden volunteer and seeing so many beautiful plants, Ashworth’s yard has been claiming more of her time, but decorating both interiors and exteriors of family and friends’ homes has been a hobby for a long time.
You can find Ashworth at the Welcome Desk, helping visitors navigate the garden, on garden tours as a guide or an assistant and at the garden’s plant sales— both the Spring Plant Sale and the Native Plant Sale.
Ashworth can make any day brighter no matter where she serves at the garden.
Volunteer opportunities are available for many positions.
Please contact Andrea Fischer for more information at 706-542-6195 or afischer@uga.edu.
Garden of Georgia
Grow your legacy
Leave a legacy at the State Botanical Garden through a planned gift in your will or estate plans. A planned gift may enable you to make a larger gift than you thought possible. There are favorable financial and tax benefits as well.
Please contact Johnathon Barrett, the garden’s director of development, at (912) 398-9750 or Johnathon.barrett@uga.edu to learn more about giving opportunities.
Friends of the Garden has joined Brent and Becky’s Bulbs’ Bloomin’ Bucks. It is a simple program–you buy bulbs, plants, tools and more from Brent and Becky’s Bulbs through a special website and Friends receive a generous percentage of your order. Your order is sent directly to you when it is the appropriate time to plant.
Just follow these simple steps:
1 Go to www.bloominbucks.com (no ‘g’) and from the pull-down menu of orgnizations select FRIENDS OF THE STATE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF GEORGIA.
2 You will be sent to Brent and Becky’s Bulbs website where you can order whatever you want.
3 Your order is delivered directly to you and a percentage of the proceeds of your order helps to support the garden.
Andrea Fischer, volunteer coordinator
SPRING 2024
CHILDREN & FAMILY PROGRAMS
SCHOOL FIELD TRIPS
Tuesdays-Fridays
Available times between 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
State Botanical Garden education staff
Children’s classroom, gardens and trails
Fee: Varies with program, $5-$8 per student
Ages: Varies with program, PreK-grade 12
Bring your students to the garden to learn about natural ecosystems near and far. Each field trip program includes hands-on learning through our gardens and trails and a chance to connect with nature. For more information, contact sbgeduc@uga.edu.
SWEET PEA CLUB
Every Thursday, March 21 through Oct. 31 10:15-11 a.m.
Theatre-in-the-Woods
Fee: $3 per class
Ages: 3-5
Join the State Botanical Garden of Georgia education team for Sweet Pea Club at the Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden. Families will join one another for a morning of adventure in the garden through various activities, including songs, puppets, stories, hikes and games. Each week will highlight a new theme, such as water, soil, foods we eat, pollination, plants or trees. The Sweet Pea Club program is an informal way to give young naturalists a better understanding of the importance of our shared earth. This program is geared towards ages 3-5. Please note this program takes place outdoors, and the location may change depending on weather. Registration is required and can be found on our website.
VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS
Fee: $50
Ages: Varies with program, PreK-grade 8
Visit the garden from your home or classroom with our virtual garden package. These programs go hand in hand with our popular forest adventures, comprised of a 30-minute to 1-hour pre-recorded video on themes such as stream ecology, medicinal plants, entomology and more. Follow up with a live session with garden education staff on a platform and date of your choice. For more information, contact sbgeduc@uga.edu.
VOLUNTEER TRAINING FOR SCHOOL FIELD TRIPS
Friday, Feb. 23
9 a.m.-noon
State Botanical Garden Visitor Center, children’s classroom
Are you interested in encouraging a love for nature in future generations? Consider being a volunteer for our State Botanical Garden field trips. Learn more about the program themes that are offered for spring. This training will also cover volunteer opportunities in the Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden. Our education team will review one of our most popular garden field trips and some hands-on training with the puppets. Lunch will be provided. For more information, contact sbgeduc@uga.edu.
ADVENTURE PACKS
Available times between 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Self-guided Fee: $20 for materials for up to 20 participants Age: Pre-K through grade 12
Explore the State Botanical Garden and trails on your self-guided adventure. Each pack contains maps and supplies for handson science activities, plant hunts and forest explorations to be completed throughout different areas of the garden. Bring your family or students to enjoy activities and games, introducing you to our shared earth at your own pace. For more information, please contact sbgeduc@uga.edu.
BIRTHDAY PARTIES AT THE GARDEN
Saturdays and Sundays
9 a.m.-noon or 1-4 p.m.
State Botanical Garden education staff Visitor Center, children’s classroom Fee: $300 for up to 30 guests
Ages: 5-10
Are you looking for a memorable, magical, kid-friendly birthday? Look no further! The State Botanical Garden of Georgia offers a variety of birthday programs from September through May. You can choose from Animal Encounters, Critter Catchin’, Forest Treasure Hunt and more. Each party includes one hour of guided activities in our conservatory or forest trails and use of the children’s classroom for a total of three hours. Parents or chaperones must accompany all children for the duration of the program and are included in the participant numbers. For more information, please contact sbgeduc@ uga.edu.
ALICE H. RICHARDS CHILDREN’S GARDEN PERFORMANCE SERIES
Every third Saturday of the month, April through August 9:30 and 11 a.m. show times Theatre-in-the-Woods Free and open to children of all ages
Every third Saturday of the month, April through August, enjoy various engaging shows on the Theatre-in-theWoods stage in the Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden. Experience music, laughter and connection in nature as our artists bring excitement to your weekend. All performances will take place at 9:30 a.m., with a second showing at 11 a.m.
GEORGIA QUESTIVAL
Sunday, March 17
1-5 p.m.
State Botanical Garden education staff and partners Fee: $5 per individual, $20 per family and children two and under are free
Join the State Botanical Garden of Georgia staff, students, volunteers and local partners for our spring family festival, Georgia Questival. Exhibitors and vendors will be stationed throughout the Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden and Visitor’s Center, leading adventurous activities showcasing Georgia’s natural history. Check our website for details about this fun and family-friendly event.
34TH ANNUAL GIVE WILDLIFE A CHANCE POSTER CONTEST: WHAT’S THAT? HABITAT!
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia and The Environmental Resources Network, Inc. encourage you and your students to participate in the 34th annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest! As part of DNR and TERN’s “Kids for Conservation” initiative, this art contest provides a unique opportunity for kindergarten through fifth-grade students to explore the wonders of Georgia’s native plants and animals through the 2023–24 theme: What’s That? Habitat!
For rules and specific guidelines, visit https://georgiawildlife.com/PosterContest.
SUMMER CAMPS
The State Botanical Garden education department offers six different week-long summer camps for ages 5-10. Each week focuses on a different outdoor theme to inspire fun and to connect with nature. Registration for all camps is available online through the State Botanical Garden of Georgia website.
Available by week June-July
9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Fee: $300
Ages: 5-10
JUNE 3-7 GEORGIA CRITTERS
Learn to bound like a deer, sneak like a fox and build a home like a beaver. Georgia is full of many fascinating creatures that we can discover all around us. From turkeys to snakes, mayflies to owls, we will meet a variety of creatures that call Georgia “home” and learn what they need to survive in their habitats. Come to this week of camp and leave a Georgia animal expert.
JUNE 10-14 AQUATIC ADVENTURERS
Want to meet creatures that can change colors, breathe through their skin and have their stomachs on their feet? Explore the wacky world of water. Catch salamanders and crayfish in our stream, play water games that leave you soaked and learn what you can do to keep our water clean. This week of camp is sure to cool you down and excite your imagination.
JUNE 17-21 FOREST EXPLORERS
The environment changes across the globe, and so do the ways people interact with it. In this week of camp, we will travel the world to discover how humans have used the natural world throughout history. Try your hand at various historical practices in farming, eating, social gathering and survival. We have a world of fun during this week of community-building and exploration.
JUNE 24-26 SWEET PEA CAMP
Monday-Wednesday 9-11 a.m.
Fee: $75
Ages: 3-4 with an adult helper
This camp is planned especially for young nature lovers and their parent or other adult helper, offering a marvelous introduction to the natural world. Each day focuses on a different topic, such as “A Visit with Old Man Spruce Tree” or “Adventures with Oli the Earthworm.” Programs involve puppet shows, storytelling, outdoor games, nature crafts and garden explorations. This camp provides a great way to spend time outside this summer with your child.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES CAMP IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SUMMER CAMP ACADEMY
June 24-28
9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Ages: 11-14
Registration is through the Georgia Center for Continuing Education
Learn about different fields of study in the world of environmental sciences from professionals in horticulture, conservation, botany and more! Explore careers in these fields through hands-on experiential learning and interactions with experts. Have fun exploring the State Botanical Garden grounds and learning about the diverse ecosystems in the Georgia Piedmont and your backyard.
JULY 8-12 AQUATIC ADVENTURERS
Please be advised that this week’s schedule will replicate the first week of Aquatic Adventurers camp. We ask that campers join only one of these duplicate weeks to allow space for others.
JULY 15-19: BEE SMART, EAT SMART
The Bee Smart, Eat Smart camp introduces campers to gardening, nutrition and cooking by discussing the connection between nature and the foods we eat. Campers will have the opportunity to try various fruits and vegetables throughout the week, and the final project will include a Chef Day in which kids will work under the close supervision of camp counselors to create two healthy, kid-friendly recipes for all to try.
JULY 22-26 NATURE RANGERS
Join the Nature Rangers for a week packed with outdoor exploration. Campers will participate in various exciting games and adventurous activities showcasing Georgia’s natural history and resources. From mountains to coast, see what makes our great state unique.
NATIVE PLANT SYMPOSIUM
Wednesday, Feb. 15
9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Garden Club of Georgia, Terrace Room
Fee: $65 (lunch included); $30, webinar option
https://t.uga.edu/6wn
Growing and protecting native plants are important for many reasons: they celebrate our state and region, they are well suited to our region’s growing conditions, and they are the foundation of the complex ecosystem that supports insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. Native plants can be tough, beautiful garden plants for your home landscape and delicate harbingers of the changing seasons. Join us this year as we explore the native ecosystems through the eyes of artists whose creations and designs showcase the richness of the natural world and communicate the beauty of our region’s unique flora. Please see the complete agenda on the garden’s website at botgarden.uga.edu.
ADULT PROGRAMS
ATHENS BEGINNERS BEEKEEPING SEMINAR
Saturday, Jan. 20
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Eastern Piedmont Beekeepers Association
UGA Bee Lab
Garden Club of Georgia, Terrace Room
Fee: $65 (includes lunch)
https://t.uga.edu/8bx
Beekeeping is a complex and fascinating pursuit with plenty to learn and sweet rewards! If you are interested in becoming a beekeeper yourself, this comprehensive seminar featuring Georgia Master Beekeepers and industry professionals will prepare you to create a successful hive. This workshop will guide you through understanding the honey bee and the steps to obtain your bees, tools and hives. This program will also cover harvesting, various hive products and how to use them. Participants will also learn about proper care and some common challenges beekeepers face today.
Each participant will receive a box lunch, a copy of “First Lessons in Beekeeping” and a one-year membership to the Eastern Piedmont Beekeepers Association. As a bonus, all participants will have the opportunity to participate in a follow-up, hands-on class at a nearby apiary on March 23 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. or 1-3 p.m.
HIKES AND RAMBLES
FULL
MOON HIKE SERIES
Thursday, Jan. 25 7-8:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 24 7-8:30 p.m.
Monday, March 25 8-9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 23 8-9:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 23 8-9:30 p.m.
State Botanical Garden education staff
Meet at the fountain in front of the Visitor Center Fee: $5/person, pre-registration required
See the garden come alive at night! Join our monthly Full Moon Hikes to enjoy the State Botanical Garden after hours and hear discussions on nocturnal plants and animals, the changing seasons and moon folklore. Be prepared to hike up to 2 miles on our wooded trails and in the garden, where visibility may be low at times. If you have young children or infants, a backpack carrier is suggested. Pre-registration is required.
SPRING
8 a.m.
BIRD RAMBLES
See State Botanical Garden of Georgia website for dates Oconee Rivers Audubon Society
Upper Parking Lot
Free and open to the public
LEARNING BY LEADING™ SPRING ORIENTATION
Thursday, Jan. 25
6-8 p.m.
Visitor Center, great room
Are you a student interested in working at the State Botanical Garden alongside other students and staff to address important environmental issues? The State Botanical Garden of Georgia’s Learning by Leading™ (LxL@UGA) program provides students with leadership skills and real-world experience with education, conservation and horticulture through hands-on experiential projects. Interested students are welcome to learn how to participate in this student engagement program and receive experiential learning credits. RSVP at uga.givepulse.com.
NATURE RAMBLERS
Thursdays March 7 through Nov. 24
9 a.m. (each ramble lasts about 90 minutes) Leaders rotate among a group of local naturalists and biologists featuring guest guides Meet at children’s garden arbor
Join the Nature Ramblers to learn more about the State Botanical Garden’s natural areas, flora and fauna while making new friends and enjoying the fresh air. Rambles start with an inspirational reading by a nature writer such as Annie Dillard, John Muir or Janisse Ray. Ramblers are encouraged to bring their own nature writings or favorite poems and essays to share with the group. This is a ramble, not a hike; stopping to view interesting plants, insects, butterflies and mushrooms, etc., along the way is part of the experience each week. You can join for just one or all sessions. These informal rambles are free, but donations are accepted in the garden’s donation box in the lobby of the Visitor Center.
Join the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society for a morning bird walk in the garden. Look and listen for our spring migrants. First time birding? No problem. ORAS members will help you spot and identify the feathery creatures. All birding levels are welcome. Bring binoculars if you have them. For more information, visit www.oconeeriversaudubon.org.
LIVING WITH TREES
Tuesday, March 26, 6-7 p.m.
Virtual on Zoom
Sunday, April 7, 10 a.m.-noon OR 1-3 p.m Field walk at State Botanical Garden of Georgia Kathryn Kolb, executive director and master naturalist, EcoAddendum
Edward Morrow, consulting arborist, EcoAddendum Fee: $50 Register at botgarden.uga.edu
Mature trees are beautiful and make us healthy, but some may be at risk of falling. Most trees tell you they are sick long before they fall if you know what signs to look for. Join EcoAddendum Executive Director and Master Naturalist Kathryn Kolb and Consulting Arborist Edward Morrow for this two-part program to learn about the health of trees in your yard and neighborhoods. Part one of this program will be an online presentation to showcase simple steps you can take to determine whether a tree is healthy or potentially hazardous, so you can reduce the risk to your home. Part two will be a walk and talk at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, identifying key health characteristics of trees and showing how trees adapt to various conditions, which may be surprising to the human eye. Both presentations also include interesting facts about tree character, tree ages and how best to work with the trees in our yards and landscapes to ensure their best health.
LEARNING BY LEADING™ END OF SEMESTER SPRING SHOWCASE
Thursday, April 18
6-8 p.m.
Porcelain & Decorative Arts Museum, classroom
UGA students are working alongside staff at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia to help address critical environmental issues and develop hands-on horticulture skills. Learning by Leading™ provides students with leadership skills and real-world experience with education, conservation and horticulture through hands-on experiential projects. This event will allow students to share what they have been working on throughout the semester.
The Piedmont Gardeners present the 31st Garden Tour
Gardens of Oconee County Sat., April 20, 2024 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. rain or shine
Tickets sold at local businesses for $20 each $25 each at the gardens on tour day and online at piedmontgardeners.org
Proceeds go to the Piedmont Gardeners Scholarships for horticulture and landscape architect students at UGA.
FRIENDS FIRST FRIDAY
FRIENDS FIRST FRIDAY
First Friday each month
9–10:30 a.m.
Fee: $12 general admission, $10 for members
Pre-registration is required
Gather for breakfast and find out what brings folks to the garden to visit and volunteer. Each month, a different garden subject is presented and conversation is encouraged among the attendees. To reserve your place for Friends First Friday, register online at botgarden.uga.edu.
JAN. 12 – Dr. David C. Coleman, distinguished research professor emeritus, UGA Odum School of Ecology, presents “An Overview of More Than a Half-Century of Experiences.”
Join us as Coleman shares his experiences, including travel to many countries around the world. He will discuss soil structure—leading to a cascade of trophic interactions in soil food webs. For basic and applied ecology, soil porosity, driven by root production and turnover, is key to understanding soil processes. Coleman will discuss collaborative research across disciplines.
Copies of Coleman’s book will be available at half-price ($10) to all attendees.
FEB. 2 – It’s time to celebrate Orchid Madness at the State Botanical Garden! Join Carol Dyer, curator of the Tropical Collection and Herb & Physic Garden, and her assistant, Kim Patton, as they share information and tips on orchid care.
Please feel free to bring one small to medium sad-looking orchid (one that is not blooming) and a clean pot/container to repot. Dyer and Patton will provide bark medium and demonstrate how to properly repot your orchids.
MARCH 1 – Linda Chafin presents “Let’s Go Hiking!” You don’t have to drive to the mountains or the coast to take some great hikes if you live in the Athens area. Within an hour’s drive of Athens, and usually much closer, there are many great trails at state and county parks. Chafin will tell some stories of exploring these trails, a project she started during the early days of the pandemic when we were urged to stay close to home. Now, she walks these trails every year for their beauty, challenge and botanical interest.
Chafin retired from the State Botanical Garden in 2020 after serving 16 years as the garden’s conservation botanist. She is the author of two books on Georgia’s flora and has been hiking and enjoying the outdoors since childhood.
APRIL 5 – Join Jason Young, director of horticulture and grounds at the State Botanical Garden, for a conversation about the landscape of Monticello mountain in Charlottesville, Va. Before coming to UGA, Young worked at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s historic home. Jefferson was passionate about nature and what agricultural plants could do for our young nation.
In this talk, we will discuss Jefferson’s “Ferme Orne,” or ornamental farm that he planned and developed on Monticello mountain from the first ground-breaking in 1768 to his death in 1826. Young will also talk about his work bringing this landscape to life as manager and curator of historic gardens at Monticello.
Please join us for Orchid Madness 2024, a celebration of orchids from around the world, with events throughout February.
Tickets for each event are available for purchase online at botgarden.uga.edu.
BOTANIC MUSICALE
Saturday, Feb. 10, 6-8 p.m.
The Day Chapel
$25 per person
The Botanic Musicale piano concert will feature internationally acclaimed musical artist Liza Stepanova and include a champagne “meet and greet” reception. This is the 17th year for Botanic Musicale, a concert series funded in honor of Neva Fickling, a former Miss America and longtime member of the board of advisors for the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.
SIP N’ PAINT
Wednesday, Feb. 14, 6-7:30 p.m., 8-9:30 p.m.
Visitor Center and Conservatory
$60 per person
Enjoy drinks and appetizers with your significant other, or make it a special night out with friends and paint a beautiful orchid led by a local artist. Choose one of two sessions. Painting and supplies are provided for each guest.
ORCHIDS AND CHOCOLATE
Thursday, Feb. 22, 5-7 p.m.
Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum – Classroom
$50 per person
Join us for a chocolate tasting and demonstration by Peter Dale of Condor Chocolates. While sipping chocolate, learn about the cacao bean and some of the unique orchids from the garden’s collection. Guests will receive an orchid to take home.
ORCHID REPOTTING CLASS
Saturday, Feb. 24, 8-10 a.m.
Visitor Center and Conservatory
$15 per person
Horticulture staff will lead a hands-on orchid repotting class. Bring your own orchid and pot. Other supplies will be provided. Choose one of six 20-minute sessions.
CERTIFICATE IN NATIVE PLANTS
The Certificate in Native Plants offers committed individuals a comprehensive series of short courses in identification, cultivation, propagation, ecology and conservation of native Georgia plants. With an emphasis on participatory learning, the short courses are designed to provide a supportive and challenging learning atmosphere. Participants will gain a greater appreciation and understanding of native plants in a broad context.
The certificate program is appropriate for home gardeners, garden club members, native plant enthusiasts, green industry professionals, conservationists and others interested in the study of native plants. The program is also designed to appeal to professionals working in land, resource and park management, including natural resource agencies and private conservation programs. Knowledge and skills gained can be applied to both volunteer and professional services in the fields of conservation, horticulture, landscape design, land management and environmental education. One of the goals of the program is to have certified students participate in ongoing public and private efforts to preserve and restore Georgia’s flora and natural habitats. For a complete course listing, visit botgarden.uga.edu/education/adult-programs/.
Core Electives
PLANT TAXONOMY: THE IDENTITIES OF THE PLANTS
Online course content available March 15
Saturday, April 13, 10 a.m.–noon or 1–3 p.m. lab session (limited to 20 each)
Monday, April 15, 6-8 p.m. Zoom lab session (limited to 20)
Tuesday, April 16, 6-7 p.m. Zoom Q & A
Sabrina Sewell, botanist
Virtual program, see our website for more information https://t.uga.edu/6Pa
Taxonomy is the fundamental branch of science that names and classifies all elements of the world around us, including living things. A plant taxonomist specializes in determining groupings, relationships and, ultimately, the names and identities of plants. This process utilizes pertinent data such as phylogenetics, phytogeography and phenology, but most essentially, plant morphology: the forms of plant parts. In this multi-session virtual course, students will focus on these diverse morphological characteristics of plants (descriptors of leaves, flowers, roots, etc.) and their utility in investigating unknown plants. Students will also survey the history, principles and practices of plant taxonomy as a discipline and be guided through the process of plant identification via dichotomous keys. It is recommended, but not necessary, that students take Basic Botany before this class.
Course structure:
This class consists of four elements: a series of pre-recorded introductory videos; at-home exercises exploring plant anatomy, collecting and dichotomous keys; an in-person lab session or virtual lab session and a wrapup discussion session through Zoom.
Part 1 – Introductory Video Lectures – content released 3/15
Part 2 – At-Home Exercises – content released 3/15
Part 3 – Plant ID Lab – choice of in-person session 4/13; 10 a.m.–noon. or 1–3 p.m. OR virtual session 4/15; 6–8 p.m.
State Botanical Garden Visitor Center, classroom 2 https://t.uga.edu/7ve
Trees may be most beautiful in the winter when they are stripped down to their basic architecture. But can we know them without their leaves? In this class, students will learn the basics of identifying trees in the winter by learning about twigs, bark, leaf scars, fruits and tree form. Students will learn to use a hand lens and a simple key for woody plants to identify species. Class time will be divided between classroom exercises and a field trip to the deciduous woods at the State Botanical Garden.
NATIVE PLANT PROPAGATION
Friday, Feb. 2
9 a.m.–1 p.m.
Heather Alley, conservation horticulturist, State Botanical Garden of Georgia
State Botanical Garden, Mimsie Lanier Center
https://t.uga.edu/7vh
Learn the basics of propagating native wildflowers and shrubs from seeds, cuttings and divisions. Models for inexpensive grow-light systems and a propagation timeline will be provided to ensure that your seedlings are ready to be transplanted outdoors in early spring. Participants will leave with several types of seeds to propagate at home. Time and weather permitting, we may walk around the Mimsie Lanier Center to collect woody cuttings for propagation, so please dress for the outdoors.
SOILS OF THE GEORGIA PIEDMONT AND BEYOND
Saturday, March 23
9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Mac Callaham, research ecologist, U.S. Forest Service State Botanical Garden Visitor Center, classroom 2 https://t.uga.edu/7vk
In this course, we will discuss the history of our Georgia Piedmont soils and general soil ecology and biology. What is soil? What factors affect soil properties? These are a couple of the questions we will address in this class, including a lecture and a lab portion where we will explore soil in nature. Prepare to get a little dirty and learn about the fascinating, mysterious world beneath your feet.
SPRING WILDFLOWERS OF THE GRANITE OUTCROPS OF GEORGIA
Georgia is home to 90% of the Southeastern Piedmont’s granite outcrops, one of the most endangered and botanically interesting natural communities in the U.S. Students will be introduced to the ecology, habitats and plant communities of the granite outcrop ecosystem during an interpretive hike. As the mountain wakes up from a long cold winter, we will celebrate spring wildflowers on the outcrop and learn more about their life histories, adaptations and resiliency as they survive and thrive in this challenging yet beautiful place. This will be an entirely field-based course on a multihour hike. Please note that this class is part of a new program and is located outside of the Athens area.
SPRING PLANT SALE
April 11 - Friends preview sale 2-6 p.m.
April 12 - 2-6 p.m.
April 13 - 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
The spring plant sale is a great way to get wonderful plants, receive expert advice and support the garden. Staff from the horticulture and conservation departments will be at the plant sale, along with many Master Gardeners, to help answer gardening questions and make recommendations for your specific needs.
All proceeds from the April plant sale go directly to the operational costs of the horticulture department. With these profits, we purchase new plants to add to our collections, order necessary supplies and hire part-time employees to help keep the gardens beautiful year-round.
Thursday, April 11, is the preview sale for Friends of the Garden members only. Members of the Friends of the Garden will receive a 10% discount and get to shop early.
HEIRLOOM SOUTHERN APPLES: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Saturday, March 23
$40 for the morning panel discussion; lunch included $35 to add to the grafting class where you will take home your own grafted heirloom apples trees
A panel discussion featuring Diane Flint, owner of Foggy Ridge Cider and author of “Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived: The Surprising Story of Apples in the South;” Dr. Stephen Mihm, Head of the Department of History, University of Georgia; Joshua Fuder, UGA Extension Agent; Tom Mercier, owner of Mercier Orchards; and Gareth Crosby, State Botanical Garden, Heritage Garden Curator. The discussion will be followed by a book signing, lunch and heirloom apple tree sale. There will be an additional apple tree grafting class led by State Botanical Garden staff and Extension faculty. Come immerse yourself in the world of heirloom apples, past, present and future!
CERTIFICATE IN SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE DESIGN
This year, we are offering a new certificate in Sustainable Landscape Design open to any interested individual. This certificate provides hands-on instruction in the design and implementation of sustainable and stunning residential designs. Participants will work through four full-day, participant-centered classes offering straightforward, practical design strategies. The series takes a step-by-step approach starting with design graphics and moving through spatial composition, sustainable design principles and planting design. Please note that one may register for any workshop without completing the entire certificate.
Bundle Cost: $470
Individual Workshop Cost: $140 per workshop
FUNDAMENTALS OF DESIGN GRAPHICS
Friday, Feb. 23
9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Richard Ludwig, PhD, former host of PBS TV’s “GardenSmart,” past garden specialist for Southern Living State Botanical Garden Visitor Center, gardenside room
This course provides intense, hands-on instruction in design illustration and graphics. The full-day workshop offers participants bold yet efficient strategies to communicate design concepts on paper. This course is recommended for participants who wish to improve their design communication and drawing skills. All drawing supplies and course materials are included.
CREATING THE ULTIMATE LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Friday, May 17
9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Richard Ludwig, PhD, former host of PBS TV’s “GardenSmart,” past garden specialist for Southern Living State Botanical Garden Visitor Center, gardenside room
This course is developed for participants to enhance their design philosophy and create plans that are stunning, unified and functional. The class takes an architectural approach and emphasizes topics such as form composition and lines of force. This hands-on workshop provides extensive training in design theory, moving from a basic understanding to creating a master plan in just one day. Improve your skills as you create beautiful, practical, sustainable design solutions.
DESIGNING THE ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIVE LANDSCAPE: A NATURE-INSPIRED APPROACH
Friday, Aug. 2
9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Richard Ludwig, PhD, former host of PBS TV’s “GardenSmart,” past garden specialist for Southern Living State Botanical Garden Visitor Center, gardenside room
This full-day, hands-on workshop is for participants wishing to create landscape designs that are stunning and earthfriendly. This course focuses on weaving ecologically sound concepts into traditional residential design. In addition, this class provides basic graphics instruction to communicate ideas efficiently and boldly on paper. By centering around an in-depth, hands-on understanding of curvilinear-based drift designing, this class will prepare you to create native plant displays and gardens that are visually pleasing and environmentally conscious. All drafting equipment and supplies are included.
PLANTING DESIGN FOR THE SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE
Friday, Nov. 1
9 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Richard Ludwig, PhD, former host of PBS TV’s “GardenSmart,” past garden specialist for Southern Living State Botanical Garden Visitor Center, gardenside room
This workshop focuses on the effective use of all types of plant material. This full-day workshop takes an artistic approach centering on how to combine form, texture and color. How to create and manipulate visual energy is a central theme as well. Students use the paradigm of block design to create stunning combinations. The course also teaches how to draw in a realistic elevation view to help communicate your ideas. Finally, the workshop provides research-based knowledge on soil preparation for herbaceous and woody plants.
PLANTS & POLLINATORS SPECIALIZATION
The garden has expanded its successful Certificate in Native Plants program to include a Plants and Pollinators Specialization designed for anyone ready to take an interest in protecting our native plants and pollinators. The specialization is open to people currently enrolled in or graduated from the CNP program, as well as those who have not yet participated, but are looking for an opportunity to get involved in pollinator protection in their area.
CONNECT TO PROTECT LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP
Friday, Feb. 9
1-5 p.m.
Heather Alley, conservation horticulturist, State Botanical Garden of Georgia Visitor Center, classroom 2 https://t.uga.edu/6wj
Join our conservation horticulturist, Heather Alley, for a training workshop on the specialized native plant garden program known as Connect to Protect. In this class, you will learn the Connect to Protect philosophy and master both the educational goals and the gardening for biodiversity methods of this program. Educational outcomes of this course will include choosing appropriate native plant species, essential maintenance and dynamic curricula to create gorgeous, biodiversity-supporting gardens. Learn the steps it takes to become a CtoP leader and an ambassador of gardening for wildlife! Class time will be spent both indoors and outside hiking in the garden. Dress for outdoor conditions and a walk around the garden.
PLANNING
FOR POLLINATORS: THEIR BIOLOGY AND HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
Friday, March 22
9 a.m.–noon
Rachel Hughes, lecturer, Biology, University of North Georgia
Kevin Tarner, professional horticulturist Virtual program, see our website for more information https://t.uga.edu/6wi
Have you heard the buzz? Pollinators are in decline and need our help. One way to support local pollinators is to incorporate native plants into your garden. In this class, you will learn about the importance of pollinators in our environment, their interaction with native plants and how to provide space for these important creatures through garden landscaping. This course will provide an overview of some basic insect biology and explain the ecology of why insects are critical to the environment and society. You will also learn about the native plants you can plant to attract your local pollinators and how to keep those plants healthy and arrange them beautifully in your garden design. Come learn about these cool bugs and see what you can do to transform your garden into a native pollinator habitat.
This class consists of two elements: a prerecorded, asynchronous video and a three-hour Zoom session.
REQUIREMENTS
Five courses (4 hours each) 20 hours
Two
ENTOMOLOGY FOR GARDENERS: IDENTIFYING & UNDERSTANDING COMMON BACKYARD ARTHROPODS
Saturday, April 20
9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Scott Clem, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, UGA Department of Entomology Visitor Center, classroom 2 Register online at botgarden.uga.edu.
In this course, you will learn how to identify common arthropods (i.e., insects and arachnids) commonly encountered in Georgia gardens. This class will equip you with the necessary knowledge and tools for distinguishing beneficial insects from those which are potentially harmful to the local ecosystem. As a participant in this course, you will also learn about common invasive and introduced arthropods, as well as simple methods for improving arthropod biodiversity. Class time will be spent both indoors and outside hiking in the garden.
Friends of the Garden
Become part of the garden family today, or gift a membership to a friend or loved one. Memberships can be purchased or renewed online, by phone or mail, in the garden gift shop and at many garden events.
Joining our membership support group, Friends of the Garden, is the easiest way to become more involved in the activities of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. This charitable organization allows its members to support the garden’s work and mission while gaining a closer connection to the people who make it grow. Friends receive discounts on the majority of events and programs offered at the garden as well as special invitations to advance plant sales, horticultural talks and trips to other regional attractions.
The Friends’ newsletter provides additional information about upcoming garden events and features current articles by our knowledgeable garden staff.
Visit botgarden.uga.edu for more information.
2450 S. Milledge Ave. Athens, Ga. 30605 botgarden.uga.edu 706-542-1244
GIFT SHOP TUES. -SAT. 10 A.M.-4 P.M. SUN. NOON.-4 P.M.
PORCELAIN AND DECORATIVE ARTS MUSEUM TUES.-SAT. 10:30 A.M.-3:30 P.M. SUN. 12:30-3:30 P.M.
DEVELOPMENT FRIENDS
Hello Friends,
This is my last Garden News article, and I’m so pleased with what the Friends have done these past two years. We celebrated our 50th anniversary, which included a beautiful tea acknowledging our past garden directors and officers. We supported the successful Sunflower Concert Series, which included the entire Randall Bramblett Band. We supported education and horticulture endeavors. We purchased two new battery-operated scooters to use in the garden. We contributed and still contribute to Winter WonderLights. We had a successful trip to Massee Lane Gardens with 38 attendees. We had our final Flea Market and raised over $9,000.
The best is the increase of participants in our Friends First Friday program. We started with new programs when COVID had weakened, and we had about 15 people sign up. With new and exciting speakers, that number has increased to over 100 people registering. We offer a variety of food for our brunches, a long way from the boxed chicken and biscuit breakfast.
In the past eight years, the Friends have supported the State Botanical Garden to the amount of over $1 million.
I have met many talented and creative people in the past two years. I’ve seen staff retire and some on to better things. And those positions were filled with more wonderful and hardworking people. The garden goes through many changes through the seasons, and you never know what spectacular sights you’ll see. So volunteer, join the Friends and participate in classes.
I wish to thank my other officers for guiding me through this term: Karen Radde, Kay Petroff, John Graham and Pat Brussack. I would name more, but I’m afraid I’d forget someone important. I would like to thank Tom Jackson and Andrea Fischer for proofreading my articles. Again, thanks to all for a lovely term, and I’ll see you in the garden.
Eileen H. Hale, president, Friends of the Garden
PRESIDENT
Eileen Hale
VICE PRESIDENT
Karen Radde
TREASURER
John Graham
RECORDING SECRETARY
Kay Petroff
MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
Lynn Bryant
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Pat Brussack
ENDOWMENT TRUSTEES
Mercer Brockenbrough
James LaBoon III
John Quackenbush
Tom Wilfong
Ellen Wilkens Wiley
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Merry Anderson
Shirley Berry
Nancy Black
Barbara Bourque
Pamela Bracken
Cheryl Briscoe
Shirley Cook
Betsy Ellison
Juli Fields
Andrea Fischer
Celia Fowler
B.J. Garrett
Susie Haggard
Carol Martines
Rosemary Maulden
Mary Mills
Teresa Morrison
Beverly Morton
Marsha Mulderig
Mike Sikes
Rosemary Stancil
Gale Thomas
Barbara Turner
Anne Walker
Bill Walker
Dot Williams
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Imani Andwele
Imani Andwele is a senior Horticulture major at the University of Georgia. This is Andwele’s second year working at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.
They have experienced so much during their time at the garden. They started their first semester at the garden in the fall of 2022 as a Learning by Leading™ conservation team member. As a team member, they learned about and practiced native plant conservation at the Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies.
During the spring 2023 semester, they continued working with the conservation team but also became a part of the Learning by Leading Children’s Garden team,
where they learned all about the curated space and the children’s activities that took place there. After the spring semester, Andwele worked as a summer camp counselor at the garden’s summer camp.
Over the summer, they gained experience in being an environmental educator. During the fall 2023 semester, Andwele was split between the education department, the children’s garden and the Mimsie Center, doing various jobs.
At Mimsie, Andwele has helped prepare for the annual native plant sale. They also worked with the education department to plan for the fall family festival, Insectival, and created two activities about pollinators and keystone species for the festival.
Andwele also helps tend the Children’s Garden on weekends. During their time at the garden, Andwele has learned so much about the natural world and the plants that reside in it. They are extremely grateful for this opportunity to work at such a great place with fantastic people.
IMANI ANDWELE
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
NEW STAFF
Susana Alvarado
Susana Alvarado recently joined the State Botanical Garden staff as an accountant. Originally from Peru, Alvarado has lived in Athens for 26 years. She has three children, and her husband and oldest child also work at UGA. Alvarado loves walking and taking vacations with her family to the beach.
Noel Fortunato
The garden recently welcomed a new gift shop manager to the State Botanical Garden staff, Noel Fortunato. Fortunato is originally from Florida but has lived in Athens for 10 years. She studied art history at the University of West Florida. Fortunato’s husband also works at UGA, and they have a 9-year-old daughter. They enjoy baking, playing board games, reading and taking their dog to the park together.
Emory Perry
Emory Perry recently joined the State Botanical Garden of Georgia staff as the adult program coordinator. Perry graduated from UGA in 2020 with degrees in physics and science education. Before working at the State Botanical Garden, Perry taught high school for two years and worked at UGA’s College of Public Health. Perry’s favorite part of the garden is the Forest Play area of the Children’s Garden. She enjoys being outdoors, hiking and watching movies.
JAN. 4-7
SUSANA
EMORY
Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum Feature: The Dorothy Doughty American Birds Collection
Laurel Clark, communications coordinator
The State Botanical Garden of Georgia’s Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum has many collections that invite visitors to view the natural world through porcelain, including the Dorothy Doughty bird collection.
The State Botanical Garden is a haven for bird lovers, who can view different species throughout the seasons. The Hummingbird Trail at the garden helps visitors identify plants that hummingbirds use for feeding and nesting.
The garden is also recognized as an important bird area by the National Audubon Society. Important bird areas are lands designated by the National Audubon Society that should be protected for the birds who depend on them for breeding, habitat and migration.
The garden includes ADA-accessible trails and walkways noted by Birdability, a nonprofit organization seeking to ensure the birding community and outdoors are welcoming, inclusive, safe and accessible for everybody.
Within view of the garden’s accessible entrance, the Dorothy Doughty American Birds collection in the museum features three-dimensional porcelain birds in exquisite detail. This collection highlights the many avian species that may be heard or seen during a walk in the garden.
Dorothy Doughty (1892-1962) was the daughter of a distinguished English family. From an early age, Doughty expressed a passion for wildlife and became a keen
naturalist and ornithologist. Through Doughty’s association with the Royal Worcester Porcelain manufactory, the American Bird Series was conceived. It is a series of 75 works, 70 of which are glazed and five are unglazed. Doughty’s sister, Freda (1895-1972), was also a sculptor and artisan for Royal Worcester Porcelain, working mainly in creating figurines of children.
The porcelain pieces created by Dorothy Doughty were inspired by John James Audubon, the first artist to portray American birds in decorative art, and by her own observations of birds in nature and in her home aviary.
Doughty began working on the series in 1935 and worked on it up until her death in 1962. In the early years of working on the collection, Doughty worked from some American birds, which could also be seen alive in England. She then began visiting the U.S. to see the birds in their natural habitat and to create sketches for her future models.
One of the earliest sets Doughty completed were the Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and Apple Blossom, completed in 1936, which can be seen in the Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum.
Significant to Georgia are the Hooded Warblers (Wilsonia citrina) and Cherokee Rose, Georgia’s state flower. This set was completed in 1961, and in “The American Birds of
ART AT THE GARDEN
Judy Bolton Jarrett
Wendy Chaney
Dorothy Doughty,” Doughty tells the story of the evening in Georgia where she found the Cherokee Rose she modeled the porcelain after.
“Up this [beech tree], nearly to the top, climbed a Cherokee Rose, which cascaded down like a waterfall of great white blossoms in single strings like necklaces of huge pearls,” Doughty wrote. “Everything was dripping from the rain which had stopped, and a shaft of evening sun bathed it in a golden light with a beauty quite beyond all imagining.”
The porcelain pieces described here are just a sample of what can be found in the Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum. As plants start blooming this spring, plan to make a trip to the garden to walk through our natural areas and see the birds, and then visit the museum to see how their natural beauty and elegance are reflected in porcelain.
In Wendy Chaney’s upcoming exhibition, “A World Passed By,” you will see photographs of nature, some considered beautiful and cultured, and some considered weeds.
Chaney has tried to capture her subjects in their finest hours, documenting how they were in their environment at that moment.
“In our rush from day to day, we so often don’t stop and look at the intricate details of what is around us,” Chaney said.
“My hope is that once you view these images, going forward into your daily lives, that you begin to see the many different textures, the many different shapes and angles, how the sun highlights, how a shadow obscures, how a dew or rain drop sits on the leaves and petals, that even at a glance, you see how truly beautiful nature is and appreciate it in its fullest.”
Chaney’s exhibition will be displayed in the Visitor Center and Conservatory from Jan. 21-Feb. 25, 2024.
Since 1988, Judy Bolton Jarrett has exhibited her art in over a dozen solo shows at the State Botanical Garden. The garden has also commissioned her to create artwork for special occasions, including the 40th-anniversary limited edition print and the Day Chapel.
In this upcoming exhibition entitled “ART and SOUL,” Jarrett will again incorporate her diversity of technique and subject choices with a wide selection of subjects close to her artistic soul: landscapes and flowers in interestingly textured acrylics and mixed media works featuring collages. With her background as a high school English teacher, words will also feature prominently in the design choices. As always, color plays a major role in all of her creative endeavors.
“ART and SOUL” will be displayed in the Visitor Center and Conservatory from March 3-April 28, 2024. The artist and her husband, Don Rice, whom she married at the Day Chapel on July 22, 2023, will host an opening reception on Sunday, March 3, 2024, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Visitor Center. There will also be a closing party on April 28. Most of the artworks will be offered for sale, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting The Lukas’ Fund, www.lukasfund.org.
Vaughn-Jordan Foundation is a long-time supporter of the State Botanical Garden
Laurel Clark. communications communicator
For almost 30 years, the Vaughn Jordan Foundation has helped the State Botanical Garden educate Georgians about the crucial need for pollinators and how they can make a difference for pollinator conservation in their backyards.
Since 1995, the foundation has contributed more than $200,000 to the garden, a unit of UGA Public Service and Outreach, to support plant conservation. The funding has gone to two programs that encourage Georgians to install high quality species of plants that attract pollinators: Connect to Protect and Georgia Pollinator Plants of the Year.
“The Vaughn-Jordan Foundation has been a critical partner to the State Botanical Garden for many years,” said Jenny Cruse-Sanders, State Botanical Garden director. “We are grateful for the Vaughn-Jordan Foundation’s support in our educational pollinator programs that encourage Georgians to plant for pollinators in their spaces.”
Established in 1983, the Vaughn-Jordan Foundation was created with the express purpose of furthering botanical and horticultural science. Grants have supported graduate and undergraduate scholarships in the fields of botany or horticultural science, sponsorship of public television programming, and projects related to horticultural and botanical science.
“Supporting the State Botanical Garden of Georgia through its work to protect endangered native plants is
“Not only has the VaughnJordan Foundation supported the establishment of pollinator habitats, they are also a key partner for conserving and restoring imperiled species.”
exactly what we are about,” said Roland Vaughn, chairman of the board of trustees for the Vaughn-Jordan Foundation. “We enjoy our relationships with the staff and the productive investments we make. We think of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia as a long-term strategic partnership.”
The foundation provided an essential gift of $30,000 to the garden for its Connect to Protect program, which helps to create ambassador gardens throughout Georgia communities, spotlighting the value of native plants and pollinators. It is the State Botanical Garden’s signature pollinator program, designed to connect people, plants and animals through gardening. So far, 95 Connect to Protect gardens have been installed across the state at schools and businesses, in downtowns, parks, apartment complexes and other public spaces.
The Vaughn-Jordan Foundation also contributed to the inaugural Georgia Pollinator Plants of the Year program, which annually recognizes four top-performing landscape plants to be promoted through growers, wholesalers and retailers throughout the state. One each of the four plants is selected from these categories: spring bloomer, summer bloomer, fall bloomer and Georgia native.
The goal of the program is to create a network of horticultural professionals through which plant materials and propagation techniques can be shared, increase statewide availability and diversity of pollinator-supporting plants for consumers, and educate consumers about the increasingly significant impact that landscaping and home gardens can have on pollinator populations.
“Not only has the Vaughn-Jordan Foundation supported the establishment of pollinator habitats, they are also a key partner in conserving and restoring imperiled species,” Cruse-Sanders said.
Pollinators provide pollination services to more than 180,000 plant species and over 1,200 crops. According to the Pollinator Partnership, a nonprofit organization that promotes the health of pollinators, one of every three bites of food we eat exists because of pollinators.
The State Botanical Garden of Georgia serves as an important resource for connecting people with plant options and sources, best practices and educational tools.
As a program of UGA, Connect to Protect applies institutional knowledge and research to address critical conservation needs in Georgia.
For more information about the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and its pollinator programs, visit botgarden. uga.edu.
University of Georgia Office of the President
Malcolm Burgess
Merrill-A Bank of America Company
The Frierson/Parker Group
Nancy and Glenn Black
Coldwell Banker Upchurch Realty
Betsy and Mark Ellison Glowing
Cofer’s Home and Garden
Sandra and Trey Paris Piedmont Athens Regional
Paula and Mark Hennessy
Brenda and Ham Magill
The Terrell Family Foundation
Jingle Bell Lane
Publix Super Markets Charities
Geoffrey Cole and Mary Bess Jarrard
American Pest Control
Athens Area Women in Construction
Betsy and Roger Birkholz
Jim and Sandy Boyles
Christian Roofing and Remodeling
Southeastern Growers, Inc.
Classic City Bank
Classic City Orthodontics
Friends of the Garden
Heritage Garden Club
Jackson Spalding
Junior Ladies’ Garden Club
Rose and Dahlia Garden Club
TRUIST
Whitlow Electric
Lynne and Steve Wrigley
BOARD OF ADVISORS
2023-2024
Tootsie Adams, Athens
Cyndae Arrendale, Atlanta
Betty Balentine, Atlanta
Diana Barrow, Savannah
Lisa Bell, Savannah
Malinda Bergen, Savannah
Betsy Birkholz, Marietta
Mary Bishop, Sea Island
Dottie Blitch, Atlanta
Mark Callaway, Atlanta
Sherri Callaway, Hamilton
Pat Carlock, Atlanta
Natalie Coghill, Augusta
Jeff Cole, Athens
Geri Coleman, Atlanta
Amy Cowsert, Athens
Linda Cravey, Atlanta
Andrew Crawford, Atlanta
Martha Deméré, Sea Island
Betty DeVore, Athens
Evelyn Dukes, Athens
Susan Duncan, Highlands
Cindy Edwards, Savannah
Betsy Ellison, Athens
Susan Fant, Sea Island
James Farmer, Perry
Ann Frierson, Athens
Jim Gatewood, Americus
Sylvia Gibson, Athens
Cindy Glover, Atlanta
Kelly Grow, Athens
Lynwood Hall, Moultrie
Robert Hallock, Savannah
Catherine Hardman, Athens
Mary Hardman, Athens
Francie Hargrove, Cashiers
Georgia Hatcher, Macon
Margaret Hefner, Macon
Paula Hennessy, Atlanta
Melba Hill, Atlanta
Ken Hodges, Albany
Maudie Huff, Columbus
Karen Hull, Augusta
Holley Jaakkola, Savannah
Truett Jarrard, Atlanta
Jimmy Jeter, Moultrie
Sally Jobe, Atlanta
Dori Jones, Columbus
Sally Jones, Sea Island
Gena Knox, Athens
Merry Jo Kurrie, Valdosta
Mimsie Lanier, Sea Island
Kathy Lanigan, Thomasville
Sissy Lawson, Gainesville
Betsy Leebern, Columbus
Peggy Lientz, Atlanta
Brenda Magill, Athens
Alden Maier, Rome
Polly Mattox, LaGrange
Marianne McConnel, Atlanta
Tavia McCuean, Atlanta
Marilyn McNeely, Clarkesville
Jim Miller, Atlanta
Farolyn Mobley, Moultrie
Cindy Moore, Savannah
Caroline Morris, Augusta
Felton Norwood, Atlanta
Colleen Nunn, Atlanta
Penny Nunnally, Atlanta
Alannah O’Quinn, St. Simons Island
Sandra Paris, Atlanta
Alex Patterson, Athens
Hart Payne, Gainesville
Doreen Poitevint, Bainbridge
Mark Preisinger, Sea Island
Kathy Rainer, Atlanta
Stephen Reichert, Macon
Georgia Schley Ritchie, Atlanta
Adrian Robinson, Atlanta
Margaret Robinson, Sea Island
Riley Sams, Sea Island
Deen Day Sanders, Norcross
Victoria Simms, Sea Island
Henrietta Singletary, Albany
Lacy Sinkwich, Athens
Jane Skinner, Atlanta
Eileen Small, Atlanta
Betty Sponcler, Dalton
Colleen Sullivan, Albany
Nancy Tarbutton, Sandersville
Nancy Thomas, Screven
Elizabeth Townley, Bogart
Sandy Turbidy, Sea Island
Ruth Wellborn, Greensboro
Joel Wernick, Greensboro
Tom Wight, Macon
Cynthia Willett, Bluffton
Robert Winthrop, Athens
Kathy Young, Marietta
706.542.1244 . botgarden.uga.edu . garden@uga.edu
Warmer weather is here, and in the gift shop, we welcome spring and all it brings! Are you eager to get back out into the garden and start working? Consider stopping by the botanical garden gift shop for a few supplies.
We have a variety of hand-held shovels, garden tools and work gloves for adults and the little gardeners in your family.
Do you have a furry garden assistant who likes to hang out in the sun while you’re working? Protect yourself and your four-legged friend with our new bug spray, Beat It! It’s deet-free and safe for both dogs and their humans.
We are always stocking up on unique, thoughtful gifts for gardeners and nature lovers alike. The gift shop is the perfect place to find a piece of the botanical garden to take home with you.
