Monday, October 26, 2009

Gardenside Café Opens!

The State Botanical Garden is pleased to announce the opening of Gardenside Café in the Visitor Center & Conservatory, overlooking the International Garden. The café will be open Tuesday through Sunday whenever the building is open, with lunch served from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Lunch includes sandwiches and salads, as well as a daily lunch special. “I call our daily special ‘Grandmother’s food’, because it is a taste of home cooking. All the recipes are old-fashioned recipes that I modify to my tastes,” explains café manager Jerry Warren, who also owns and operates Countryside Catering in Winterville, Georgia.

The Gardenside Café reflects the botanical garden surrounding, offering shade-grown coffee and serving with plates and spoons made from eco-friendly bamboo and sugar cane. The entrance to the café wanders through a tropical conservatory. Both indoor and outdoor seating is available and the café has wireless Internet connection. The Garden is located one mile south of the Loop on South Milledge Avenue; parking and admission is free. The menu is designed to quickly serve both lunch-hour patrons who want to escape the office for a few minutes in a garden and Garden visitors who would enjoy a break while visiting the Garden.

Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 9:00 am – 4:30 pm Lunch served 11:00 – 2:00
Sunday 11:30 am – 4:30 pm Lunch served 11:30 – 2:00
Closed Mondays and all UGA Holidays
Café Phone: 706-542-6359

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Music Sunday in the Garden




I think the best weather all weekend was during the 2 hours that 5 UGA music students were playing throughout the Garden. Music and nature blend beautifully! There were plenty of blooms in the Garden, especially in the International Garden just below the cafe terrace. Here are a couple photos from last weekend. Ernest "Bubba" Beasley and Jason Royer will be performing as a jazz duo again at the January 28, 2010 Twilight Toasts and Luther Enloe will perform classical guitar for an Evergreen Concert in early March.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Live Music in the Garden today!

Music Sunday in the Garden
The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Athens
Sunday, October 18, 2009 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

We are pleased to offer these talented musicians, all UGA students, to add to your pleasure while exploring The State Botanical Garden of Georgia on this beautiful fall afternoon.
This afternoon of music is made possible by a grant from the UGA Parents & Families Association.

Ernest "Bubba" Beasley graduated from James Madison University in 2005 with a major in geology and a minor in jazz studies. He is currently a geology masters student at UGA and is taking classes in the UGA jazz department.

Luther Enloe moved to Georgia at the age of twenty, to study the guitar at the University of Georgia with John Sutherland. He has subsequently received a BM and an MM, graduating with distinction, under Mr. Sutherland’s tutelage. Continuing his studies at UGA, he is presently pursuing a DMA in music performance with a minor in musicology. As a soloist, Luther Enloe has distinguished himself by winning awards in the Georgia Music Educators Association Competitions including the Award of Excellence in 1996 and 1998. Mr. Enloe was a chosen recitalist at the 1998 Christopher Parkening master class at Montana State University. Concurrent with his academic studies, Mr. Enloe maintains an active performance schedule and has appeared as a guitar soloist with many ensembles including The Montana State University Chorale, The Dekalb Choral Guild, and Peachtree Symphonic Winds. Luther Enloe has served on the faculty of Berry College in Rome, Georgia since 2007. At Berry College Mr. Enloe maintains a thriving guitar studio in addition to teaching courses in music. He and his wife, Victoria, live in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Rachael Eubanks is a fourth year Music Education major at the University of Georgia. She began playing the violin at the age of twelve and has been immersed in music ever since. Her post-undergraduate goal is to find a teaching position where she can expose countless children to the wonders of music.

Originally from Ringgold, Georgia, Rachael Fischer began her violin studies at the age of four. She was named the winner of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Association’s Concerto Competition in 2000, and the winner of the University of Georgia Concerto Competition in 2004. Rachael has also been an active performer in many ensembles including the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra, Athena Grand Opera Company Orchestra, and Macon Symphony Orchestra. She is also an active chamber musician, and has had extensive coaching sessions with the St. Lawrence String Quartet and the Juilliard String Quartet. Rachael completed her Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance at UGA in 2005, studying with Dr. Michael Heald, and the Master of Music degree at Arizona State University in 2007 under the tutelage of Dr. Katherine McLin. She is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance at UGA.

Jason Royer is a music major at UGA with a concentration in bass performance. In addition to being the upright bassist for the UGA jazz band, he plays with the UGA Philharmonic and a number of small jazz combos.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Music Sunday in the Garden October 18th from 1:00 to 3:00 pm

Discover a variety of live music as you enjoy a stroll through The State Botanical Garden of Georgia on a perfect fall Sunday afternoon. UGA music students will be playing in the Garden from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 18, 2009. Funded by a grant from the UGA Parents and Family Association, these talented students will be stationed throughout the Garden. Information on these UGA students and their music will be available at the front desk of the Alice Hand Callaway Visitor Center & Conservatory.
This is an ideal weekend to stroll the gardens or nature trails, wander with a camera, or share a bench with your friends, laptop, book or just with nature and your thoughts. Admission and parking at the Garden, located a mile south of the Loop at 2450 South Milledge Avenue, is free.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

So Much Happening at the Garden Today.

Wow! The Garden is filled with beautiful plants and, we hope, lots of gardeners at the Fall Plant Sale from 8 am-2pm. I was really impressed with the large edgeworthias with fat flower buds and the tables filled with pitcher plants, euphorbias, heucheras and more. What a great way to shop for plants - in a garden, surrounded by folks to help you choose from a great selection. These staff members and volunteers get so excited about plants that they are growing in their gardens.
Also there is a class that is part of the Native Plant Certificate Program. This program filled up immediately when it first started, but now there is space to take new people into the program. Find out more at www.uga.edu/botgarden.
Then in the new classrooms, about 3 dozen graduate students are part of a charette to come up with fresh, innovative ideas for SBG's Children's Garden. This sounds like a first step, but actually the Garden's Education staff have been considering the educational programming of the Children's Garden for many years and are excited this project is moving forward.
You will pass a construction site as you drive into the Garden. This will be our new Horticulture Complex - the engine that drives the Garden. This is where the greenhouses, growing areas, equipment, Horticulture staff offices and more will be located. This location near the entrance will reduce the amount of traffic in the Garden.
Keep posted - very soon we will tell you about the new cafe opening in the Garden.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Fall Plant Sale at The State Botanical Garden of Georgia

Hey folks! This weekend will be a great time to work in the garden - the weather will be cool and soil softened by the recent rains is easier to weed. While you are in your garden, look around and see where you could use new plants, because the following weekend is the Garden's Fall Plant Sale.

Saturday, October 10 - 8:00 am – 2:00 pm
Visitor Center & Conservatory
2450 South Milledge Avenue, Athens, Georgia 30605
Free admission

Celebrate Fall planting season with new plants to enhance your landscape. Fall truly is the best time for fall planting of trees and shrubs. Since roots develop best in cooler weather, planting now allows several months for root establishment before next year’s new spring growth and summer heat. Shop the Fall plant sale for a broad selection of trees, shrubs, perennials, native plants and more. The SBG Horticulture staff will be on hand to assist in your selection and answer questions, as well as Garden volunteers and Master Gardeners.

Also at the Garden on October 10th:

Photography Exhibit: Intimacy
Don Byram, Photographer Visitor Center Lobby
September 27 to October 18 free

Native Ferns and Mosses
Certificate in Native Plants Elective Course
George Sanko, Georgia Perimeter College, Ferns
Jim Allison, Interpretative Ranger, Davidson Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve
Saturday, October 10 Visitor Center, Classroom 2
8:30 am -12:30 pm Members $40; non-members$45
This course will be broken into two segments. George Sanko will cover the first two hours with woodland and xeric ferns of Georgia. This portion will be an introduction to the reproductive life cycle of ferns as well as apogamy—asexual reproduction found in most xeric ferns. Students will learn to identify ferns by learning the physical characteristics of some native ferns in Georgia and becoming familiar with common terminology. Jim Allison will cover the second two hours with mosses and their relatives. There will be a brief presentation covering bryophytes, their diversity
and distinction from other plants. The remainder of the class will be spent at Rock and Shoals Natural Area, focusing on the ecology and field recognition of mosses and their relatives. It is recommended that participants bring their hand lens or a strong magnifying glass to the program.