Get the Scoop on Carnivorous Plants

Carnivorous Plants:  Learn to Identify, Grow 

and Conserve Carnivorous Plants

June 7, 2014 | 9 AM - 1 PM 

Visitor Center & Conservatory -- Adult Classroom 

2450 S. Milledge Ave. Athens, GA 30605

Cost: $50                 Friends of the Garden Members: $45

Georgia is home to nearly 30 species of carnivorous plants --  plants that get most of their nutrients from capturing and digesting the living organisms -- insects, spiders, frogs, etc. -- that fall or are lured into their traps. They inhabit some of our most interesting and endangered habitats -- bogs, savannas, and other wetlands. This class will look at their fascinating life history and explore some of the plant communities that support them.

Kevin Tarner, Greenhouse Manager for UGA's Plant Biology Department, will cover identification of Georgia's carnivorous plants, as well as propagation and cultivation. He will also discuss their endangered and species-rich habitats and the conservation steps being taken to preserve them.  Each participant will have the chance to get their hands dirty by potting up their own carnivorous plants to take home. The class will also visit the Plant Biology Greenhouses on Riverbend Road and tour Kevin's extensive collection of carnivorous plants. 

For more information or to register, contact Cora Keber [ckeber@uga.edu] 706-542-6156, or go to the Garden's online registration site:  http://botgarden.uga.edu/eventdetails.php?id=140

Sarracenia flava, Yellow Pitcherplant  Photo by Hugh and Carol Nourse

Celebrating Emily Dickinson: Readings, Discussions and a Garden Walk

Celebrating Emily Dickinson: Readings, Discussions and a Garden Walk

May 20, 6-8 p.m., The Visitor Center & Conservatory, $5 includes reception

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, 2450 South Milledge Avenue, Athens

When volunteer Greg Wagstaff approached the State Botanical Garden of Georgia to create an event around Emily Dickinson in the garden, the brainstorming that followed led to "Celebrating Emily Dickinson: Readings, Discussions and a Garden Walk" on May 20, 6-8 p.m.

This $5 event (free for Friends of the Garden) will include an opening reception at 6 pm, a talk by Greg about Dickinson with at 6:30 pm, a guided poetry walk through the State Botanical Garden, and an illustrated brochure that will be available at the Garden’s front desk for the next few weeks. Highlighting the program will be readings by graduate student Emily Stutler, Stephen Corey, Editor of the Georgia Review, and Caroline Jean Bartunek of the Georgia Review. Greg consulted with leading authorities on Emily Dickinson in the Northeast (Dickinson was born in Massachusetts in 1830), garden curators, Master Gardeners, and The Georgia Review staff for direction and ideas.

Scheduling the event seemed to coincide with ‘Celebrating Wildflowers Week’ at the Garden, which included led walks by the Conservation Biologist and working beside the Conservation Horticulturist. Would this fit in with these events?

“Certainly!” Greg replied. “When Emily Dickinson was a student at Amherst Academy, she roamed the woods collecting wildflower specimens and pressing them into her own herbarium.”   Emily's collection can be seen online at:  http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/4184689 

Dickinson’s love of flowers and natural areas are often expressed in her poetry, but she saw very few of her poems published. “During her lifetime, only a few people knew that Emily was a poet, but everyone knew that she was a gardener.” Greg wrote in the brochure.

Join us Tuesday, May 20 for an evening celebrating nature and a lady that many believe to be ‘America’s greatest poet.’ And meet Greg, now on staff at the State Botanical Garden. Information at www.botgarden.uga.edu or (706) 542-9353.

Emily Dickinson poems:

Source: THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON, Thomas H. Johnson, ed., Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.  

J404 - How many Flowers fail in Wood --

How many Flowers fail in Wood --
Or perish from the Hill --
Without the privilege to know
That they are Beautiful -- 

J111 - The Bee is not afraid of me.

The Bee is not afraid of me.
I know the Butterfly.
The pretty people in the Woods
Receive me cordially -- 

J1650 - A lane of Yellow led the eye

A lane of Yellow led the eye
Unto a Purple Wood
Whose soft inhabitants to be
Surpasses solitude 

A useful link to Emily Dickinson activities and lessons:

http://visionsofliberty.net/pdfs/bookGroups/emilyDickinsonsLessons.pdf

Other events during ‘Celebrating Wildflowers Week’:

Conservation Work Day
May 20, 9 a.m.-noon
Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies
RSVP to jceska@uga.edu

Botanical Garden Wildflower Walk with Conservation Botanist Linda Chafin
May 21, 4:15 p.m.
Meet under the shade arbor beside the Callaway parking lot
RSVP to 706-542-9353

Rock and Shoals Native Plant Walk with Conservation Botanist Linda Chafin
May 22, 9 a.m.
Meet at the Callaway parking lot to carpool to site
RSVP to 706-542-9353

The State Botanical Garden is a public service and outreach unit at the University of Georgia. For more information call 706-542-9353, email garden@uga.edu or see botgarden.uga.edu.

Join us for a reception and book signing at the Garden

Tuesday, March 11

Linda and James Hunt: Book Talk, Signing, and Reception

$5, reservations requested

Reception at 6:30 pm, talk at 7:30 pm

Visitor Center & Conservatory, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, 2450 S. Milledge Ave., Athens

 

Join us Tuesday night for a reception and wine tasting with other garden, nature and history lovers, and husband-and-wife authors Linda and James Hunt. Linda and James will be signing books, and The Healthy Gourmet will be offering tastes of wines and cheeses during the reception. Linda has written “Bold Spirit”, an account of Helga Estby and her teenaged daughter Clara, who set off from Eastern Washington to walk across the United States in 1896 in an attempt to win a $10,000 wager and save her family’s farm. James Hunt recently published “Restless Fires: Young John Muir's Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf in 1867-68”. They will be sharing the podium for the State Botanical Garden of Georgia’s first annual Conservation Lecture. Info at www.botgarden.uga.edu or (706) 542-9353.

Exotic Birds and Reptiles on Planet Earth

Parrots and lizards and snakes, oh my!  Come see all of these beautiful creatures and more in the Garden for a morning of fun and excitement.  Prepare to be entertained and informed by Roy Hodge, from Exotic Paradise in Atlanta, and his array of exotic animals!  Crafts and activities will follow his presentation allowing you to learn even more about forest ecosystems. 

Tickets are $5 each or $20 per family.  Children 2 and under are free.

Just a few steps away in the Visitor Center Gardenside Room will be the first Springtime Artist Market!  Browse through original pieces created by local artists to decorate your home and also raise money for the new Children's Garden.  The market will be open 9:00 am - 3:00 pm.

For more information call 706-542-1244 or visit botgarden.uga.edu.

(Please click on graphic to enlarge.)

Here are the top winners of our 2013 Art Competition.

First Place - "The State Botanical Garden of Georgia"
Sara Sturges, Watkinsville

Second Place - "Orchids"
Chelsea Morey, McDonough

 

Third Place, "Spiderwort"
"OC" Carlisle, Athens



Third Place - "Flowers of the Wild"
Analea Briceno, McDonough

Third Place - "Brown Thrasher"
Sara Sturges, Watkinsville

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Sara Sturges of Watkinsville, who won our 2013 State Botanical Garden of Georgia Art Competition. There were 57 entries, which very much impressed our judges. There is a glitch in getting all five winners (we had a 3-way tie for Third Place, including Sara's other entry) onto this blog post; we will post all five winners soon. In the meantime, here are the 2013 winners:

2013 State Botanical Garden of Georgia Art Competition

First Place:

Sara Sturges, Watkinsville                            Oconee County High School

   “The State Botanical Garden of Georgia” – digital

Second Place:

Chelsea Morey, McDonough                      Union Grove High School

   “Orchids” - Prismacolor

Third Place (Three-way tie):

Analea Briceno, McDonough                      Union Grove High School

   “Flowers of the Wild” – watercolor, ink

"OC" Carlisle, Athens                                       University of Georgia

   “Spiderwort” – colored pencil

Sara Sturges, Watkinsville                            Oconee County High School

   “Brown Thrasher” – digital

Certificates of Merit:

Andie Ashe, Athens                                        University of Georgia

   Untitiled – digital

Severen Brown, Athens                                                Athens Academy

   “Denizens of Detritus” - scratchboard

Erica Dutton, Rome                                         Armuchee High

   Ribbon Blooms” – pen, ink, colored pencil, marker

Sydney Fielding, McDonough                     Union Grove High School

   “Zinnias” – Prismacolor

Rosa Galdamez, Athens                                                Cedar Shoals High School

   “Saving Seeds in My Life” – oil pastel

Madison Hogan, Athens                                  Cedar Shoals High School

   “…Mother Earth Smiled” – watercolor, pencil

Jiade Li, Acworth                                              Furtah Prep

   “Inner Peace” – oil pastel

Natalie Pecasner, McDonough                   Union Grove High School

   “Lilly Pads” – Prismacolor, pencil, acrylic

Wick Prichard, Athens                                    University of Georgia

   “Southeastern Soil Ecosystem” – digital

Allison Rautmann, McDonough                 Union Grove High School

   “Flower” - Prismacolor

Thy Vo, Lawrenceville                                    Berkmar High

   “Connected” – digital

Trisha Walden, Commerce                           East Jackson Comprehensive High School

   “The Simple Life” – ink

Yan Lin Yang, Acworth                                    Furtah Prep

   “Rose” – pencil