State Botanical Garden of Georgia at UGA

Have you noticed daffodils starting to bloom? Do you see them in your neighborhood? Around GA-Loop 10? At the State Botanical Garden of Georgia? For over 12 years, Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful (KACCB) has partnered with the Georgia Department of Transportation to beautify the GA-Loop 10 by planting daffodils - and wow these bright yellow blooms are wonderful to see in the spring! To date, KACCB and community partners have planted 158,000 daffodil bulbs on seven Loop 1...0 on/off ramps off-ramps such as Chase Street, Prince Avenue, Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and North Avenue. Their goal is to plant daffodils at all 11 of the loop’s interchanges. This effort by KACCB was recognized in August 2018 when District 4 Commissioner, Allison Wright, lobbied to make the daffodil the official flower of Athens-Clarke County. Then-Mayor Nancy Denson and the Commission of the Unified Government of Athens unanimously passed the resolution. We are proud to continue to support the efforts of KACCB to keep the Athens-Clarke County community beautiful by planting these daffodils. Stacee Farrell, Executive Director of KACCB says "SBG and KACCB have a long history of collaborative and innovative outreach work in Athens. Consistent SBG representation on our Board of Directors has strengthened our communication and enhanced our ability to partner and/or complement each other’s work. We are so fortunate to work with the fine folks at SBG!"

This week we’re featuring Sophrolaeliocattleya Fairyland 'NN'. We chose this orchid because of its strong resemblance to the daffodils that are starting to bloom here at SBG. Sophrolaeliocattleya is an orchid hybrid from Sophronitis, Laelia and Cattleya, which shows the influence of the Sophronitis parent with a compact habit and colors in the orange and yellow range. It grows upright to a height of about 19. It prefers slightly moist soil, medium light, and intermediate temperatures: 55-60F minimum and 71-82 F maximum. It’s considered hardy, and it flowers twice a year (spring and fall) from 4-6 weeks. You’ll find this sweet orchid in our tropical conservatory. #FlowerFriday

Thank you Pinnacle Bank for being a platinum sponsor for 2021 Orchid Madness! Pinnacle Bank has been a strong supporter of the program since 2018 helping the garden expand our stunning range of collections.

Did you know that the vanilla plant is an orchid? Do you enjoy vanilla flavoring in foods like ice cream or other desserts? The availability of this common flavor and the ability to grow vanilla beans outside of their native Mexico are a result of the revolutionary pollination technique created by Black horticulturist Edmond Albius in the 19th century. Formerly an enslaved person in the French colony of Réunion, Edmond (at the age of 12) was the first to develop a reliable me...thod of manual pollination for the vanilla orchid outside of Mexico. His technique revolutionized the cultivation of vanilla worldwide. Edmond’s scientific discovery allowed the vanilla plant to be grown in non-native areas around the world. His pollination method is still used today by horticulturists growing vanilla beans and because of Edmond’s invention vanilla has become the only orchid with economic importance as an edible crop. If you are interested in seeing what the vanilla orchid looks like, you can see both Vanilla planifolia and v. pompona in our tropical conservatory. #blackhistorymonth #orchids

The Learning by Leading at UGA (LxL@UGA) program is growing a leadership community for University of Georgia students. There are 8 teams at the garden this semester, allowing students to learn, participate and lead through different projects in a public garden setting. The Garden Ambassadors team began meeting last week and will be bringing you LxL updates on social throughout this semester. Make sure you are following us to learn more about LxL and each of our student-led teams at the garden!

You may not expect to see many pollinators in your garden this time of the year, but some insects are active on warm winter days. We found our pollinator of the month tucked away in the downtown Athens Connect to Protect garden. This tenacious carpenter bee seems to be enjoying the nectar provided by this purple patch of pansies. These diminutive flowers are also serving as a tasty snack for a variegated frittilary caterpillar. You never know what pollinators you might find in the garden-- even on a winter day!

We have been able to continue our mission of public service & outreach by keeping our outdoor spaces open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We would love to hear what that has meant to you during this time. Please share your experience in the comments below or you can email us at [email protected] to share your stories.

We are hosting several virtual events in early November including tours and workshops all about the fall season! If you are interested in learning more about Georgia agriculture, natural dyes or creating beautiful fall decorations for your home, join us for these events! You can learn more about each of our events at the links below: Indigo Dyeing - https://t.uga.edu/6iz... Fall Decor - https://t.uga.edu/6ll Virtual Tour - https://t.uga.edu/6qz See more

October is a busy month here and you will see many changes throughout the garden - not only in the beauty of the fall color but in the preparation of annual beds and display pots. During this time, summer annuals are pulled, soil is amended and winter and spring seedlings are planted. Mid October is also when we have seedlings we grow in the greenhouse ready for the garden. Our beds and display pots change over to fall annual color - Pansies, Snapdragons, Foxgloves, Erysimum, Larkspur and Poppies are just a few winter hardy annuals that will either bloom throughout the winter or in early spring. Winter hardy vegetables like kale, mustard and a variety of lettuces are great plants we use for color and texture in the winter. Additionally, our curators are busy cutting back many perennials and grasses this time of year.

Our upcoming virtual Basic Botany class will explore the biology of plants in this introduction to general plant anatomy, morphology, physiology, evolution, and development. This course presents the fundamental information about plants with an emphasis on relating form to function as well as the origins of plants and their life processes. Students will become acquainted with plant tissues and structures, as well as their roles in the life of plants. This class will be taught virtually over a period of several sessions in a dynamic and varied format. For more information and registration, visit: https://t.uga.edu/6oa

Congratulations to our horticulture department for taking 1st place in the All-America Selections (AAS) 2020 Landscape Design Challenge! We fall into Category III (gardens with over 100,000 visitors per year) and competed against gardens across the US and Canada. This year’s theme was Make an Entrance and the past curator of the flower garden took inspiration from the sun which makes an entrance every day. We have had a long-standing partnership with AAS, an independent, non-profit, organization founded in 1932 to trial and judge new varieties of annuals and vegetables. Follow the link to the AAS website to learn more about our first place win and AAS: https://tinyurl.com/y4tn3364

Are you interested in creating a tallgrass prairie or a meadow? Do you have a sun-baked patch of ground and you don’t know what to plant? Consider a native grass such as Schizachyrium scoparium, commonly called Little Bluestem. It was one of the dominant grasses of the central North American prairies, and it still thrives today. It grows to 2-4’ tall in clumps that can grow up to a foot in diameter. It tolerates a wide-range of soil conditions, high heat, and humidity and is ...drought resistant. Its green leaves are slender and flat with stems that are lavender-blue at the base. The flowers in August are purple-bronze and are followed by clusters of fluffy, silvery-white seed heads, but many bluestem lovers consider its bronze-orange foliage in the fall its most outstanding feature. Order from our online native plant sale at: https://t.uga.edu/6q7 #FlowerFriday

Our annual Student Art Competition is now open for all students grades 9 through University! In addition to an award of up to $1,000, the winner of the contest will have their artwork sold as merchandise through our gift shop. The deadline for art submissions is November 20. For more information about the contest, visit: https://t.uga.edu/6qm

We were recently recognized by the American Public Gardens Association for excellence in Biodiversity and Conservation programming. This acknowledgement is part of a broader APGA program encouraging public gardens to become leaders in sustainability and global climate awareness. The Public Gardens Sustainability Index is an industry-specific tool with a structure that encompasses environmental, social, and financial sustainability best practices for gardens of all sizes, fin...ancial capacities, community demographics and geographies. The Biodiversity and Conservation Attribute we were awarded is one of several standards gardens are encouraged to strive to fulfill the criteria of the Index. Check out our profile on the American Public Gardens Associate webpage here: https://tinyurl.com/y567ckk2

Thank you to everyone who attended our virtual plant sale preview and have bought plants through our online native plant sale this fall. Your purchases support our Science and Conservation department's activities, such as rare and endangered species conservation, habitat restoration, native plant materials development and student mentoring. If you haven't ordered plants yet, there are still plants available for sale throughout October! We still have a lot of Blue Mist in stoc...k if you're looking for a fall blooming wildflower to fill our your pollinator garden. Check out our current inventory here if you are planning fall garden planting: https://t.uga.edu/6q7 Photo Credit: Hugh and Carol Nourse