Classes and Events in April!

Gardening 101
Monday, April 5
5:30 – 7:00 pm
members $10, non-members $12
Visitor Center, Classroom 2
Amanda Tedrow, ACC Cooperative Extension, UGA
New to gardening or Georgia? This quick start class will teach participants the basics of home gardening. The class will touch on the topics of testing and preparing the soil, sunlight and water requirements, planting tips and yearly maintenance. Amanda will provide basic zoning information to help participants plant and maintain annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees in their yard.

Spring Plant Sale!!!
Saturday, April 10
8:00 am - 2:00 pm

Beekeeping for Beginners: Units 4-6
Unit 5: Installing Bees/Spring Buildup
Friday, April 9 or Saturday, April 10
1:00 - 3:00 pm members $40; non-members $45
meet at Shade Garden Arbor
Dan Harris, Beekeeper
Have you ever wanted to harvest honey from your own beehive? Would you like to collect beeswax to make candles or soap? Do you have a touch of ‘backyard biologist’ in your blood? If so, these workshops, covering the fundamentals of beekeeping, may be for you. Weather alternative dates will be scheduled if necessary. Completion of the Unit 1 – 3 is not required to attend. However, a protective veil and gloves are required for Unit 4 and 5. In Unit 5, Dan will demonstrate how to install a package of bees into a new hive. He will also open an existing hive and compare it to the previous inspection from Unit 4.

Basic Botany
(a Certificate in Native Plants Core Course)
Saturday, April 10
8:30 am – 4:30 pm
members $90, non-members $100
Visitor Center, Classroom 2
Robert Wyatt, Adjunct Professor of Ecology, University of Georgia
Basic Botany provides an introduction to general plant anatomy, morphology, and physiology, with an emphasis on relating form to function. Using live material and slides, students will make detailed observations of root, stem, and leaf tissues and discuss the processes of water and nutrient movements. The mechanisms of flower pollination, seed dispersal, and germination will be explored, along with the basics of plant genetics, photosynthesis, and evolution.

Spring Wildflower Ramble
Saturday, April 10
10: 00 am
Free
meet at Shade Garden arbor
Heather Alley, Conservation Biologist, SBG
It’s springtime at the Garden! Enjoy a promenade around the Native Flora Garden and discover the many interesting wildflowers blooming this time of year.

Spring Wildflowers of the Granite Rock Outcrops of Georgia
(a Certificate in Native Plants Elective Course)
Saturday, April 17
8:30 am – 12:30 pm
members $40; non-members $45
Visitor Center, Classroom 2
Linda Chafin, Conservation Botanist, State Botanical Garden of Georgia
Students will be introduced to the ecology of Piedmont granite outcrops and their flora in the classroom, then visit Rock and Shoals Natural Area to learn to identify the species that characterize Georgia’s granite rock outcrops and surrounding plant communities.

Botanical Garden Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, April 17
10:00 -12:00 noonmembers $8; non-members $10 (per team)
Meet in front of Visitor Center
SBG Education Staff
What better way to get to know the Garden than to become an explorer! Throughout history and even today, explorers have traveled the globe in search of plants that could be used for food, medicine, shelter, and much more. In the process, they often moved plants from their original location to the one where they are found now. Did you know our own Georgia peach originally came from China? Each team (no more than five) will work together to complete a list of Garden explorations, finding plants and forests treasures and documenting their uses and native regions. Teams must stay together during the hunt. Prizes will be awarded to the first five teams to finish. This program is designed for families but others are welcome as well.

Vegetable Papermaking
Monday, April 19
9:30 am – 12:00
noonmembers $24; non-members $27
Visitor Center, Classroom 2
Cindy Bowden, Director of the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum
Join the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum and the Georgia Museum of Art for a morning of papermaking and fun. We will be making paper from abaca (banana leaf fiber), recycled cotton and linen rags, daylily fibers, and leeks. Wear washable clothing, tour the garden to identify potential fiber sources for papermaking and make your own sheets. Fee includes materials. Class is designed for adults and limited to 25 participants.

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.

Get Inspired for Fall Planting

...with award-winning plants and inspiring speakers.

Spend a day in the Garden – The State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, that is! – and learn about designing and gardening with Georgia Gold Medal plants. The low $40 fee (discounts for Master Gardeners) includes lunch, speakers, plant sale, door prizes, and more! Find out more at www.georgiagoldmedalplants.org or www.uga.edu/botgarden.

Gold in your GardenA one-day symposium focusing on Georgia Gold Medal Plants,
Thursday, September 17, 2009, 8:30 am - 2:00 pm in the Callaway Building.

Gold Medal Plant Sale (open to the public) 10:30 am - 3:00 pm on Callaway Building front plaza.
Register Online Here >>