One of the most important questions a gardener can ask themselves this spring is which plant species they want to incorporate into their garden. The Georgia Pollinator Plants of the Year program hosted by the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia identifies four species each year that make wonderful additions to any garden.

Started in 2020 by the State Botanical Garden and Extension at UGA and green industry partners, the Georgia Pollinator Plants of the Year program celebrates the benefits of pollinator plants. It encourages home gardeners to incorporate these plants into their own landscapes.

The pollinator plants of the year are chosen for each of the following categories: spring bloomer, summer bloomer, fall bloomer and Georgia native. The program is funded in part by the Vaughn-Jordan Foundation.

“I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this year’s winners to anyone,” said Emily Laske, assistant conservation horticulturist at the State Botanical Garden. “Each of these species explodes into a show of blooms that delight people and pollinators alike.”

The four plants chosen for 2024 are:

Spring Bloomer – Robin’s Fleabane

Erigeron pulchellus “Lynnhaven Carpet”

About: Robin’s Fleabane is a perennial with 6- to 12-inch flowering stems that provide an evergreen, carpet-like ground cover. The textured foliage bursts into bloom in the spring with small white to light purple daisy-like flowers.

Conservation value: Supports many native pollinators such as bees, butterflies and songbirds.

Summer Bloomer – Spotted Horsemint

Monarda punctata

About: Spotted Horsemint is a biennial, up to 3 feet tall, in the mint family that blooms into beautifully complex, yellow-spotted flowers with pink bracts during the summer months.

Conservation value: Supports many native pollinators such as bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds.

Fall Bloomer – White Wood Aster

Eurybia divaricata

About: White Wood Aster is a perennial in the aster family that typically grows up to 3 feet tall. It has attractive heart-shaped leaves and showy white flowers in late summer through fall. The center of the flowers turns from yellow to red after being pollinated, providing more color and intrigue in the garden.

Conservation value: Supports many native pollinators such as bees and butterflies.

Georgia Native – American Witchhazel

Hamamelis virginiana

About: American Witchhazel is a shrub or small tree that averages 15 feet tall but can get up to 35 feet. It explodes into a display of bright yellow, firework-like flowers in mid-fall to early winter.

Conservation value: Supports many native pollinators such as moths, bees and small flies.

A committee selects the four plant species from a pool of nominations from gardeners, horticulturists, entomologists, ecologists and green industry professionals throughout Georgia. The committee announces the plants a year in advance, giving growers time to increase the supply of the plants for the public to acquire.

Ellen Honeycutt, board chair for the Georgia Native Plant Society, serves on the committee and says the program has several benefits for Georgia gardeners.

“It helps gardeners recognize that Georgians need to be growing pollinator plants across all three growing seasons, and it gives them specific recommendations to research for their area,” said Honeycutt.

“This program always features at least one plant native to Georgia to help raise awareness of using native plants in our gardens.”

The State Botanical Garden, a unit of UGA Public Service and Outreach, sells the pollinator plants of the year at its spring and fall plant sales and in the garden’s gift shop and works with growers and retailers in Georgia to produce and market the plants.

For more information about the Georgia Pollinator Plants of the Year program and a directory of native plant nurseries, visit t.uga.edu/8sn. For more information about the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, visit botgarden.uga.edu.

Writer: Laurel Clark, laurel.clark@uga.edu

Contact: Heather Alley, alley@uga.edu

For the third straight year, the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia transformed into a sparkling wonderland of lights for winter, welcoming over 63,600 visitors.

Winter WonderLights, presented by the UGA Office of the President, was reimagined in its third year with new and exciting light displays. Visitors traveled through a Winter Wondercave, along Jingle Bell Lane, into the Northern Lights and through a Frosted Forest, among other dazzling features.

The show was held on select evenings from Nov. 22 through Dec. 30, and 18 nights sold out. The garden also introduced a special event for the new year, WonderLights Disco Nights, on Jan. 4-7. Disco Nights visitors experienced the light show while grooving to disco hits.

Disco Nights caught the eye of Claire Diana, a local photographer in Athens when she went online to purchase tickets for Winter WonderLights, which she had attended the first two years it was open.

“I saw the Disco Nights tab and thought that’s something different; it might be fun to hear some different music and dance,” said Diana. “Disco Nights is a festive, fun, family-friendly activity that extends the holiday magic into January in the most retro way.”

Winter WonderLights, presented by the UGA Office of the President, was reimagined in its third year with new and exciting light displays, including Jingle Bell Lane. (Photo by Dorothy Kozlowski)

“I love that the light show is for everyone. People will mention Winter WonderLights in the middle of the year as something they’re excited to do this winter. It’s something to look forward to that’s unique to Athens.”

Visitors to the show this year represented 143 counties in Georgia and 44 states. Ticket sales from the show support the conservation and outreach work of the garden.

“Winter WonderLights allows us to showcase how beautiful the State Botanical Garden is in winter and generate support for our impactful programs,” said Jenny Cruse-Sanders, State Botanical Garden director. “We are so delighted that Winter WonderLights has become a seasonal tradition for the Athens community and beyond.”

Winter WonderLights was selected as the best local event in the Athens Banner-Herald’s Community Choice Awards for the past two years. The show wouldn’t be possible without the support of 337 volunteers who donated 2,410 hours to help make the show magical for all visitors.

The show was presented by the University of Georgia Office of the President. Premium sponsorship was provided by Georgia Power, and title sponsors included Athens Ford and Barron’s Rental Center. Other sponsors include Piedmont Athens Regional, Merrill – A Bank of America Company—The Frierson/Parker Group and valued members of the local community.

Ticket sales from Winter WonderLights support the conservation and outreach work of the garden. (Photo by Dorothy Kozlowski)

Writer: Laurel Clark, laurel.clark@uga.edu
Contact: garden@uga.edu

About the State Botanical Garden of Georgia:

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, a unit of UGA Public Service and Outreach, is one of the state’s most treasured resources. With 323 acres of natural areas and cultivated gardens, the State Botanical Garden offers unique experiences for nature lovers. The garden offers eight specialty gardens, including the Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden, and over five miles of trails within an Audubon-designated important birding area. Throughout the year, the garden hosts educational programming, including camps, classes, workshops, concerts and festivals for visitors of all ages. Facilities across the garden feature art exhibits and annual lectures, including the Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum.

The garden is also the headquarters for the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance, a network of more than 50 institutions, agencies and organizations committed to ecological land management, native plant conservation, and protection of rare and endangered plants.

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 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. Interested in making a gift? Reach out to Johnathon Barrett, director of development, at 912-398-9750, or johnathon.barrett@uga.edu.

Writer: Laurel Clark, laurel.clark@uga.edu

Contact: Johnathon Barrett, johnathon.barrett@uga.edu

Since the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia piloted the Learning by Leading™ program in 2018, 171 UGA students have gained skills preparing them to enter the workforce after college.

Learning by Leading at the University of Georgia is a hands-on program developed for the botanical garden to increase leadership skills through a comprehensive experiential learning program. Students progress through a leadership ladder, gaining technical, human and conceptual skills while working alongside staff mentors at the State Botanical Garden.

“A goal of the University of Georgia is to help prepare the next generation’s workforce,” said Cora Keber, director of education at the State Botanical Garden. “Learning by Leading helps fulfill that university mission in a meaningful experiential capacity. We’re aligning ourselves with the outcomes of the university and supporting the green industry by preparing students to enter that workforce.”

Learning by Leading is an approved program for Service, Leadership and Intern experiential learning credits, a university requirement for all undergraduate students.

Students work on teams, ranging from horticulture, environmental education, conservation, visitor services and more. A staff mentor guides them, and as students progress through the program they can become student leaders in their teams.

Learning by Leading™ students who have worked on mapping plant collections in the State Botanical Garden present to their peers at the end-of-year showcase.

The idea for the program began when the garden’s director, Jenny Cruse-Sanders, attended the American Public Garden Association’s annual conference in 2017 and learned of the program created by the UC Davis Public Garden and Arboretum.

Since its inception at the garden in 2018, students have worked on projects including mapping the garden collections, heirloom apple production, plant propagation, creating education programming and curriculum and environmental interpretation materials. It is estimated that students in the Learning by Leading program have contributed over 20,600 hours of work to improving the State Botanical Garden for its estimated 360,000 annual visitors.

The first Learning by Leading student at the State Botanical Garden was Emory Perry.

Perry was a student worker at the garden when Keber approached her and asked if she would be interested in being the student who was part of the pilot Learning by Leading program.

“It was fun, and I loved it,” Perry said. “It was exciting to be a part of something new, and I didn’t realize how big of a program it would be.”

During Perry’s time in Learning by Leading, she helped develop the Garden Earth Explorers, now called Sweet Pea Club, a weekly program for children ages 3-5 to learn about nature. She also helped develop the garden’s newest family festival, Georgia Questival, which showcases Georgia’s natural history and resources through a series of adventurous activities.

Perry said her work with Learning by Leading encouraged her to add the education degree to her studies and gave her a clearer path for what she wanted to do after graduation. She graduated from UGA in 2020 with degrees in physics and science education and went on to teach high school physics and environmental science for two years.  Recently, Perry joined the State Botanical Garden staff full-time as the adult program coordinator, bringing her Learning by Leading journey full circle.

“Experiential learning is so important because it’s the stuff you don’t learn in class,” Perry said. “Learning by Leading got me involved in the community and helped me make connections. I’m thrilled to be working at the garden again, and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Learning by Leading.”

Since its inception, Learning by Leading has continued to grow and evolve to serve the needs of students, student leaders, interns and staff mentors. Initial funding support came from UGA’s Office of Experiential Learning through an Innovation Grant. Later, support has come from the Friends of the Garden at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and the UGA Parent Leadership Council.

Students in the State Botanical Garden’s Learning by Leading™ program install a pollinator garden at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel. (Photo by Jaime DeRevere)

James Anderson of the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication served as a UGA Public Service and Outreach Faculty Fellow and led a six-series leadership training for staff mentors during the 2018-2019 academic year.

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.

“As a PSO Fellow, I had the opportunity to work with the garden to develop a mentor training program,” Anderson said. “This was a unique project because many mentoring programs rarely focus on the development of the mentor; the focus is usually on the development of the protégé. This unique quality is just one of many that make this program special. It is designed to transform everyone involved.”

For more information about the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and Learning by Leading, visit botgarden.uga.edu.

Writer: Laurel Clark, laurel.clark@uga.edu

Contact: Cora Keber, ckeber@uga.edu

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia opened the third season of Winter WonderLights on Nov. 22, unveiling the show’s new design.

Winter WonderLights, presented by the UGA Office of the President, was reimagined this year with new and exciting light displays. Visitors to the show travel through a Winter Wondercave, along Jingle Bell Lane, into the Northern Lights and through a Frosted Forest, among other dazzling features.

Over 8,700 guests attended the show on opening weekend, which included the night before Thanksgiving.

Toshia Dunbrack from Elberton attended the show for the first time this year, bringing along her sister, sister-in-law and niece, who enjoyed dinner in Athens before the show.

Dunbrack said they wanted to enjoy the show before they get too busy in December. Her favorite part of the show was the Cone Tree Forest, but her group also enjoyed the Snowy Night section, with all the snowflakes hanging in the trees.

Visitors stroll through the Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden, which has been reimagined this year as Jingle Bell Lane.

“Everyone ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ over the snowflakes in the trees,” she said.

Winter WonderLights will run on select evenings through Dec. 30. The Alice Hand Callaway Visitor’s Center has been transformed into a holiday market, where guests can shop for gifts and souvenirs, including a chocolate Winter WonderBar created especially for the light show by Condor Chocolates in Athens. S’mores, Condor hot chocolate and beverages are available for purchase throughout the light show.

Tickets are $15 per person and free for children 3 and under. Friends of the Garden members will receive a 10% discount, as will groups of 20 or more people. Tickets must be purchased online.

The Athens Banner-Herald named Winter WonderLights the best local event in Athens in its Community’s Choice Awards the past two years. The show attracted over 56,000 visitors last year.

Winter WonderLights volunteer Mark Allen takes a photo of a couple visiting the show on opening night.

Winter WonderLights is made possible by volunteers who donate their time to ensure visitors have a great experience. One of these volunteers, Mark Allen, has volunteered at Winter WonderLights since the show began in 2021.

“I think it’s such a magical time,” said Allen. “Everyone’s happy and smiling and pleasant; there’s an uplifting spirit to the whole event. The best is seeing the faces of the children who are enjoying it.”

The show’s presenting sponsor is the University of Georgia Office of the President. Title sponsorship is provided by Athens Ford and Barron’s Rental Center. Premium sponsorship is provided by Georgia Power. Other sponsors include Piedmont Athens Regional, The Frierson Parker Group – Merrill Lynch and valued members of the local community.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia is located approximately 70 miles east of Atlanta, at 2450 S. Milledge Ave., Athens, Georgia. Free off-site parking and shuttle services will be provided in a UGA-owned and controlled lot off South Milledge Avenue. Paid parking at the garden is available for a limited number of vehicles and must be purchased when you buy tickets to the show. Ticket sales support the conservation and outreach work of the garden.

The garden will also offer a special event for the new year, WonderLights Disco Nights, on Jan. 4-7, 2024. Disco Nights will allow visitors to experience the light show while grooving to disco hits. Ticket prices and entry times will be the same as Winter WonderLights, and tickets are on sale now.

For more information about Winter WonderLights and to purchase tickets, visit wonderlights.uga.edu.

Writer: Laurel Clark, laurel.clark@uga.edu

Contact: garden@uga.edu

For the third straight year, the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia will transform into a sparkling wonderland of lights this winter. Tickets are now available at wonderlights.uga.edu.

Winter WonderLights, presented by the UGA Office of the President, is being reimagined this year with new and exciting light displays. Visitors will travel through a Winter Wondercave, along Jingle Bell Lane, into the Northern Lights and through a Frosted Forest, among other dazzling features.

The show will run on select evenings from Nov. 22 through Dec. 30. The Alice Hand Callaway Visitor’s Center will be transformed into a holiday market, where guests can shop for gifts and souvenirs, including a chocolate Winter WonderBar created specially for the light show by Condor Chocolates in Athens. S’mores, Condor hot chocolate and coffee will be available for purchase throughout the light show.

Winter WonderLights at the State Botanical Garden at UGA is being reimagined this year with new and exciting light displays.

“Winter WonderLights allows us to showcase how beautiful the State Botanical Garden is in winter and generate support for our impactful programs,” said Jenny Cruse-Sanders, State Botanical Garden director. “We are so delighted to begin the show in November and introduce WonderLights Disco Nights at the beginning of the new year. I hope these additions allow more people to experience the garden as it sparkles at night during the winter season.”

The half-mile trail will take approximately 45-60 minutes to complete and is fully accessible. Tickets are $15 per person and free for children 3 and under. Friends of the Garden members will receive a 10% discount, as will groups of 20 or more people. Tickets must be purchased ahead of time online.

The Athens Banner-Herald recently named Winter WonderLights the best local event in Athens in its Community’s Choice Awards for the second year in a row. The show attracted over 56,000 visitors last year.

The show is presented by the University of Georgia Office of the President. Title sponsorship is provided by Athens Ford and Barron’s Rental Center. Other sponsors include Piedmont Athens Regional, The Frierson Parker Group – Merrill Lynch and valued members of the local community.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia is located approximately 70 miles east of Atlanta, at 2450 S. Milledge Ave., Athens, Ga. Free off-site parking and shuttle services will be provided in a UGA-owned and controlled lot off South Milledge Avenue. Paid parking at the garden is available for a limited number of vehicles and must be purchased when you buy tickets to the show. Ticket sales support the conservation and outreach work of the garden.

The Alice Hand Callaway Visitor’s Center will be transformed into a holiday market where guests can shop for gifts and souvenirs.

The garden will also offer a special event for the new year, WonderLights Disco Nights, on Jan. 4-7, 2024. Disco Nights will allow visitors to experience the light show trail while grooving to disco hits. Ticket prices and entry times will be the same as Winter WonderLights, and tickets are on sale now.

Writer: Laurel Clark, laurel.clark@uga.edu
Contact: garden@uga.edu

About the State Botanical Garden of Georgia:

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, a unit of UGA Public Service and Outreach, is one of the state’s most treasured resources. With 323 acres of natural areas and cultivated gardens, the State Botanical Garden offers unique experiences for nature lovers. The garden offers eight specialty gardens, including the Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden, and over five miles of trails within an Audubon-designated important birding area. Throughout the year, the garden hosts educational programming, including camps, classes, workshops, concerts and festivals for visitors of all ages. Facilities across the garden feature art exhibits and annual lectures, including the Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum.

The garden is also the headquarters for the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance, a network of more than 50 institutions, agencies and organizations committed to ecological land management, native plant conservation, and protection of rare and endangered plants.

In June and July at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia, summer campers hike the trails, learn about pollinators, build shelters and cook with fresh produce from the garden.

The State Botanical Garden, a unit of Public Service and Outreach at UGA, hosts six week-long summer camps, all with a different theme that help children ages 5-10 inspire fun and connect with nature.

Camp themes range from Aquatic Adventurers, where campers learn what they can do to keep our water clean, to Bee Smart, Eat Smart, where campers learn the connection between nature and the foods we eat.

The State Botanical Garden at UGA welcomed 262 campers this summer, with almost every camp session full.

Sam Anderson, age 9, attended the last week of camp, where he caught critters in the stream and learned about habitats through shelter building.

Jude Forehand, age 8, looks for critters in the stream at the State Botanical Garden at UGA.

Sam said his favorite part about camp is the friends he’s met.

Nature camps at the garden are accessible for children who are already interested in nature and those who may not have spent much time outdoors.

“We have a lot of campers who are already interested in the outdoors, nature and conservation, and that’s great because we can do things they already love,” said Audrey Mitchell, children’s education coordinator. “We also have campers who have never played in the woods and may not be comfortable in the outdoors or know much about the environment, so it’s wonderful to encourage that interest and confidence with them.”

Courtney Pittman lives in Bishop and has been sending her two children, Tripp, age 9, and Townes, age 6, to camp for a couple of years. Pittman heard about how summer camp at the garden was a great program and signed Tripp up when he was old enough to attend.

“They come back and are always so happy,” said Pittman. “I love that they come back with knowledge of nature about critters or plants. In this day in age, with everything based in technology, it’s important for them to be in nature and learn to be stewards of the environment.”

Counselors for nature camp at the State Botanical Garden at UGA are either college students or recent college graduates pursuing a degree in a related field such as environmental science or education. High school students also have the opportunity to gain leadership skills by volunteering at camp as junior counselors.

MaKenzie Leatherwood has been a camp counselor for two years and recently graduated with a degree in ecology from UGA. She said camp allowed her to use the skills and knowledge she’s learned in her classes.

Summer campers learn about the Middle Oconee River from the Athens Clarke-County Water Conservation Office.

“What I learned in class played so much into what I was teaching the kids, and I got to share my experiences with them,” Leatherwood said. “Now that I’ve had this experience of teaching them, I’ve learned that I enjoy sharing this passion with other people.”

After being a camper for several years, Claire Bruner served as a junior counselor this year. She will begin her sophomore year at Clarke Central High School this fall.

“When I was a camper, I loved my junior counselors,” said Bruner. “By volunteering as a junior counselor, I still get to be at camp, and working with the kids is fun.”

As part of its summer camp programming, the garden hosts a UGA Center for Continuing Education & Hotel camp about environmental sciences for middle schoolers one week out of the summer. The garden also hosts Sweet Pea Camp, planned especially for young nature lovers, ages 3-4, and their parent or other adult helper, offering an introduction to the natural world.

Partners that participated in programming during summer camp included archeological firm New South Associates, Athens Clarke-County Water Conservation Office and Campus Kitchen at UGA.

For more information about the State Botanical Garden at UGA and the garden’s educational programs, visit botgarden.uga.edu.

Writer: Laurel Clark, laurel.clark@uga.edu

Contact: Audrey Mitchell, astadler@uga.edu

Georgia used to be home to expanses of open areas within forests with wildflowers and grassland species, but now, these grasslands have all but disappeared.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia has conservation efforts in place to help preserve and repopulate these native species. Now, efforts are underway to encourage community members around the state to help track remaining existing wild populations to aid in conservation using iNaturalist, a digital app that allows everyone to upload photos. The iNaturalist application identifies plants and animals and tracks them to help guide conservation work.

Will Rogers, conservation research professional at the State Botanical Garden at UGA, is coordinating efforts to support the Georgia Grasslands Initiative project to identify existing populations by using iNaturalist.

It was theorized that before European settlement, the southeast part of the U.S. had more widely spaced trees and grassland areas. Rogers said sun-loving plant populations that used to exist in these areas are now clinging onto the roadsides and utility rights of way, or anywhere it’s sunny.

Pictured is Butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa.

Bees, butterflies, birds and other wildlife depend on these plants for survival. For example, one of the declining sun-loving genera, Asclepias, or milkweed, is the primary larval host for Monarch caterpillars, an at-risk species.

The project aims to get an inventory of the plants on public lands to help guide conservation and restoration efforts, and the public can help.

“Partnerships are critical to managing natural resources,” said Joanne Baggs, an ecologist with the USDA Forest Service. “The partnership with the State Botanical Garden of Georgia has leveraged community science to collect information on high-quality habitats and engage many different groups that are participating in natural resource management.

“This information can be used to identify and manage high-quality grasslands and unique habitats and assist in the development of plant material for restoration.”

Rogers said the iNaturalist project generates a lot of data, some that can be used immediately and some that will be utilized in the future.

So far, the project has over 130 members who have made over 28,000 observations about nearly 2,300 different species.

The top producing project member, Sarah Kelsey, whose iNaturalist username is “botanylicious,” has contributed nearly 6,700 observations.

Kelsey, a disability civil rights lawyer in Atlanta, has been active on iNaturalist for about five years and started posting more observations during the pandemic.

“It was something I could do that was safe,” Kelsey said. “My job is high-stress. I see people going through terrible things, and there’s only so much I have the power to change. iNaturalist helps me de-stress and find some joy.”

“iNaturalist is a great way to learn,” Kelsey said. “It gives you a lot of suggestions. People who aren’t plant experts find important things all the time.”

Will Rogers, conservation research professional at the State Botanical Garden at UGA, has been working on the Georgia Grasslands Initiative project using iNaturalist since 2021.

All you need to participate is a smartphone, visit public lands in Georgia, and take high-quality close-up photos of the sun-loving plants you see. iNaturalist will identify the plant for you.

Rogers has traveled across the state, sharing with groups about the critical conservation work of the State Botanical Garden at UGA and demonstrating how to use iNaturalist to contribute to conservation efforts.

“The State Botanical Garden has taken significant steps to advance our knowledge of native plants in the southeast, and Will Rogers has been at the forefront of this important collaboration. We all have benefitted from Will’s work,” said Duke Rankin, USDA Forest Service Threatened and Endangered Species program manager.

Rogers said the project was built to be inclusive for all Georgians. Hikers, bikers, birders, fishermen, college students and all people from across the state are encouraged to help with photo documentation.

“It’s really cathartic and a beautiful experience to get out there and hear the birds singing and see all the plants,” Rogers said. “You can help a cause and reconnect with nature.”

For more information about the project, visit www.inaturalist.org/projects/georgia-grasslands-initiative-ggi. For more information about the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, a unit of UGA Public Service and Outreach, visit botgarden.uga.edu.

Writer: Laurel Clark, laurel.clark@uga.edu

Contact: Will Rogers, bonjour@uga.edu

Native plants installed by the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia near the GA-10 Loop in Athens, Ga., are changing the area from being covered in kudzu back to a more natural state.

The project, funded by Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful, was planted in November 2021. Volunteers from the State Botanical Garden, Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful, the Georgia Department of Transportation and students from the UGA College of Environment and Design all pitched in to plant the area along the entrance ramp next to the GA-10 Loop at Milledge Avenue.

Zach Wood, the grasslands coordinator at the State Botanical Garden, said all the plants chosen for the project are native to Georgia. He said they selected hardy species of plants they felt pretty confident would survive.

In total, 22 native plant species are planted at the site, including butterflyweed, Asclepias tuberosa; purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea; Blackeyed Susan, Rudbeckia fulgida; and Carolina Lupine, Thermopsis villosa.

“Native plants function to support their ecosystem, and that’s important because our roadsides are turning into monocultures of non-native species that don’t support our native wildlife,” Wood said.

He added that non-native species don’t filter water as well as native species, which is significant on roadsides to handle stormwater runoff.

When they’ve checked on the plants, all the species planted were established and growing. Wood said there was concern the plants would succumb to drought, but the value of native plants is their ability to survive in stressful conditions.

Blue Mistflower, Conoclinum coelestinum, grows in the Loop 10 planting site.

The team doesn’t water the area at all.

“It would go against the spirit of doing it,” Wood said. “We’re trying to figure out the least effort to put native plants back into a place that’s been kind of beat up.”

The botanical garden initially applied for a grant to do the project but did not receive it. Stacee Farrell, executive director of Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful, wanted to see the project happen and took it to the Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful Board of Directors, who decided to help fund the project.

“We’re really excited to support the project and to help plant native and drought-tolerant species,” Farrell said. “We love the folks at the botanical garden and want to help implement their work and research. It’d be great to continue to replicate this project not just here but around the state.”

Up until 2011, the site was covered in kudzu. Wood said there are still a lot of non-native invasive species at the site, such as crabgrass, foxtail grass and Johnson grass.

The GDOT District 1 Office in Gainesville, Ga., has supported the project by providing a right-of-way location on Loop 10, helping install the plants, creating signage and helping ensure that the planted site is not mowed until appropriate times.

“This project is so important because it’s so visible,” Wood said. “It’s going to demonstrate an alternative way of managing roadsides.”

Richard Littleton, state agronomist manager at GDOT, handles anything having to do with roadside vegetation, flower plantings and mowing for the northern half of the state. He helped install the native plants on Loop 10 and ensured that signage went up so the native plantings aren’t mowed while in growing season.

State Botanical Garden Conservation Coordinator Jennifer Ceska visits native plants growing at the Loop 10 site.

“We’re always looking for ways to make things sustainable,” Littleton said. “The more we can do that’s natural, it helps everything. It’s the right thing to do to be a good steward of our lands.”

For more information about the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, visit botgarden.uga.edu.

Writer: Laurel Clark, laurel.clark@uga.edu

Contact: Zach Wood, Zachary.Wood@uga.edu

It’s a quintessential spring morning at the University of Georgia’s State Botanical Garden. The sun is starting to peek out from behind a patchwork of pale gray clouds, warming the air.

It’s an idyllic setting for another session of Meet Me at the Garden. This pilot program, delivered by the education teams at UGA’s Cognitive Aging Research & Education (CARE) Center and the State Botanical Garden, wants to “expand the bubble” of persons living with dementia and their caregivers through interactive education and sensory activities.

Four pairs of people with dementia and their caregivers signed up to participate in this pilot program, attending four sessions over four months. Each two-hour session has a learning theme – today’s is all about greens – and CARE Center team members, cheerfully referred to as garden gurus, support each pair throughout the session by answering questions and serving as personal guides.

The pairs and their gurus gather at the Children’s Garden among a semi-circle of raised beds chock full of winter vegetables and flowers. Today, they are planting and harvesting greens and herbs. “Oh, that’s exciting!” exclaimed Odette, one of the participants. “Tony, we get to take home some plants. Won’t that be nice?” she asked her husband Tony, who stands at her side.

Odette takes a few steps back as Tony leans over a spray of kale and cabbage leaves. Yellow and purple pansies stand out against a background of bright green. Children’s Garden curator Katie McCollum shows Tony where to snip the stems of the kale he wants to take home and hands him a pair of scissors.

Odette is watching from a few feet away. She takes a few pictures of Tony, then turns to survey another raised bed of lettuces next to her.

Tony, who sits on a ledge in the garden, is participating in the Meet Me at the Garden program with his wife, Odette.

Two months ago, at the first session of Meet Me at the Garden, Odette stuck close, seemingly reluctant to leave Tony alone for too long. It’s become habit. For the last year and a half, Odette has watched as Tony’s processing speed, memory and ability to take care of himself have slowly slipped away due to Alzheimer’s disease.

The CARE team knows this dynamic all too well.

When someone becomes a caregiver, one thing that happens,” said CARE Center Co-Director Lisa Renzi-Hammond, “is that relationship dynamics shift in a way that is uncomfortable for both caregivers and for patients.”

“Spouses, for example, who were equal partners in a relationship end up becoming unbalanced and asymmetrical,” she said. “So, instead of both partners jointly making decisions together, problem solving together, one partner ends up having to make the bulk of the decisions and telling the other partner what to do.”

Odette is learning to care for Tony in this new dynamic.

Tony was a chemical engineer who loved working with his hands and getting out into nature. He used to garden, and once built a catamaran from scratch, even sewing the sail himself. And, Odette and Tony loved taking walks at Sandy Creek Park with their dog, Zoro.

Now, Odette says, Tony just wants to watch TV most days.

“My main goal [of participating in Meet Me at the Garden] was to see Tony interacting and how he enjoys being creative still,” she said.

Tony stands with Hannah Huff, who works at the CARE Center, on a bridge in the Botanical Garden.

Stimulating the senses

Art and music therapy are commonly recommended to help persons living with dementia because they help them tap back into their creativity and engage their senses.

“Senses are the gateway to the brain,” said Renzi-Hammond. “If you are going to stimulate a brain and have it do something magnificent, it usually happens through the senses.

“While no one should expect that people living with Alzheimer’s or dementia will improve their processing speeds, memory or executive function, we should be able to engage senses.”

The CARE Center is engaged in multiple levels of research to better understand and prevent Alzheimer’s disease. The center also provides outreach to communities in order to offer better support and education on an issue that impacts over 6.5 million people in the U.S. and an estimated 150,000 Georgians.

When State Botanical Garden Director Jenny Cruse-Sanders approached the CARE team about adapting a Meet Me at the Garden program she’d learned about at the Naples Botanical Garden in Florida, they jumped at the opportunity.

“We believe strongly that connections to plants and nature are essential for a good life,” said Cruse-Sanders. “We also believe that those connections should be accessible to everyone. With this program, we could adapt our preexisting curriculum to connect us with an audience that is becoming ever larger in our country.”

Tulips in bloom at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

The garden’s Director of Education Cora Keber was connected with Master of Public Health student Lydia Burton to start developing a curriculum for the program.

Each session, they decided, would have things available to taste, touch, smell, manipulate and to take home to look back on and remember. The participants also get to take home a lesson about the topic du jour. The group has learned about the history of coffee and tea, chocolate, how eating greens helps your brain, and native plants and pollinators.

Burton is delivering the program curriculum as part of her capstone project, which is required for all MPH students. At the end of each session, Burton and the garden gurus help their pairs fill out a questionnaire that asks about how the day’s session made an impact on both the dementia patients and their caregiver.

“We want to see if their quality of life has improved from learning and being out in nature and seeing new things or new sides of the person that they love,” said Burton. “I’m hoping to see changes and improvements in quality of life, their bond together, and I’m hoping to see that they are engaged with the activities.”

The benefits of a bigger bubble

As Alzheimer’s disease or dementia progresses, people living with the disease and their care partner tend to stay at home where the environment feels familiar and safe, rarely socializing with others.

“When people are in that bubble together, they’re isolated. Every day is exhausting, it’s just getting to the next day. This is something that’s accessible,” said Burton.

Meet Me at the Garden was designed to offer a space where everyone can be on equal footing and the responsibility of caregiving is distributed around the room.

Garden Guru Hannah Huff is happy to take on this responsibility. She’s been working with Tony and Odette since they first contacted the CARE clinic hoping to get a diagnosis.

“I just think it’s great that I’m able to be here to support them so that they can experience these things without Odette having to be like, ‘OK, I’m the caregiver. I need to be a caregiver 24/7. No, I can just exist and be here with my husband and go on a walk in the sensory gardens,’” said Huff. “It’s really nice to see her exhale and let her explore.”

Odette also has more opportunities to interact with other caregivers and talk about the challenges and the difficult days.

Odette says she does see a difference in Tony on the days they come to Meet Me at the Garden. He’s engaged with the activities and moves around a lot more. When Odette tells Tony they’re going to the Botanical Garden, he smiles.

“When I see him involved in something that he likes, of course it makes me feel good,” Odette said. “And also, it breaks our schedule being able to meet other people, because it’s me and him all the time, or doctors and appointments. So, it’s nice. It’s refreshing, and I feel supported. This is like my second family. My first family, really, because I don’t have anybody here.”

Tony and his wife, Odette, are part of the Meet Me at the Garden pilot program.

These are the types of benefits that the team wants to demonstrate to apply for funding. Additional funding will allow them to expand the program to benefit more people across Georgia.

The pilot program wrapped up in April, but the team is planning to take the program to the CARE Center this summer and use raised garden beds. Eventually, the programming will be developed so that rural counties that have been working with the CARE Center through the UGA Archway Partnership can adopt Meet Me at the Garden for their communities.

Today, Odette and Tony are going home with a bag of kale, a salad dressing they made together with fresh thyme, and plenty of photos of Tony that Odette will share with her cousin.

Renzi-Hammond hope that each of the participants, whether in this pilot or in future programs, will take home more than souvenirs of their day at Meet Me at the Garden.

“We hope that people look at the things that they take home from the garden, the plants that they bring back into their spaces, as a way of remembering that it is still possible to connect with their loved one and engage with them,” she said.

By: Lauren Baggett, lbaggett@uga.edu and Laurel Clark, laurel.clark@uga.edu