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Upcoming Events for Georgia
To submit your gardening event to our staff, submit it using our contact form or send an email to calendar@statebystategardening.com.
Feb. 11
Athens
Beekeeping for Beginners Series (Unit 1-3)
9:00 am -- 12:00 pm
members $85; non-members $95 (fee pays for Units 1 - 3)
Dan Harris, Booger Hill Farm, Beekeeper, Danielsville
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, we might have just what you need -- a series of workshops covering the fundamentals of beekeeping! This is the first half of a six unit series.
Unit 1 - Saturday, December 10: Beekeeping Basics
Unit 2 - Saturday, January 14: Care and Feeding of Honeybees
Unit 3 - Saturday, February 11: ABC's of Assembling a Beehive
This session meets at Douglas Farm, Bishop, GA.
Dan will demonstrate how to assemble a commercial beehive kit - from glue and nails to frames, foundation, and paint. He will also explain how to set up your hive.
Wednesdays, February 1- February 29
Athens
Garden Geology
4:00 -- 6:00 pm
Visitor Center, Classroom 2 (members $40; non-members $45)
Dan Williams, Forest Manager, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, UGA
The sessions will focus on rocks of Georgia's Eastern Blueridge and Inner Piedmont provinces. We will learn how they were formed by the processes of plate tectonics, how to identify them and how they affect plants, animals and people. Participants will make their own collection of Piedmont rocks and minerals. Participants will receive a copy of 'Rocks of the Piedmont', a companion to the sessions.
February 1 - February 26
Athens
Art Exhibit - "Nature-inspired Quilts"
free
Opening reception on Sunday, January 15th from 2:00-4:00 pm
Visitors Center -- Conservatory Gallery
This exhibit by the Mountain Laurel Quilters Guild of Clarkesville, Georgia will hang in the Conservatory Gallery in the Visitors Center beginning Sunday, January 15th and running through February 26th. The designs will range from the hand-pieced traditional to the more contemporary art quilts which encompass a variety of media and surface design techniques. The quilts will features flowers, trees and natural landscapes. The Mountain Laurel Quilters Guild is a very active group with over 60 members from Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Their works have been shown in galleries and juried shows throughout the region. We are excited to have them at the Garden to warm up our space during the cold winter months. They will host an opening reception on Sunday, January 15th from 2:00-4:00 for all to enjoy.
Thursdays, February 2 - 23
Athens
SBG's Circle of Hikers
9:00 am
Meet at the Shade Garden Arbor Free
Anne Shenk, Director of Education & Shirley Berry, Assistant Director, SBG
Exercise your body and mind and meet new people on Thursday mornings this February. Sessions will start with an inspirational reading from a nature writer such as Annie Dillard, John Muir or Janisse Ray. During the nature hikes on the Garden's trails, we will stop to view interesting and amazing plants along the way. Following the hike, consider joining your hiking friends at the Garden's new coffee shop in the Visitor Center. Hikers are encouraged to bring their own nature writings to share with the group. Join us for one or all sessions; these informal rambles are free but donations are accepted in the Garden's donation box at the entrance to the Visitor Center.
Friday, February 3
Athens
FRIENDS First Friday:
From Songbirds to Coffee, Chocolate and Conservation
9:00 am -- 10:30 am
Visitor Center Downstairs $10 for members; $12 for non-members
Anne Shenk, Director of Education
Gather for a made-from-scratch breakfast by Countryside Catering and find out what brings folks to the Garden to visit and volunteer.
Join Anne for a journey to faraway lands where coffee and chocolate grows. Discover the history, people, places and intrigue involved in the cultivation and production of these important crops. Anne will also introduce issues surrounding our native songbirds as they migrate to coffee and chocolate producing areas of Central and South America and the importance of conservation in both of their homes to assure their survival. The terms shade-grown, fair trade and organic will be investigated and the session will include a coffee & chocolate tasting! To make your reservation, please call 706-542-6138 by Wednesday, February 1.
Saturday, February 4
Athens
Medicinal Plants (a Certificate in Native Plants Elective)
8:30 am -- 12:30 pm
Visitor Center, Classroom 1 members $45; non-members $50
Patricia Kyristi Howell, Registered Herbalist (AHG)
The botanically rich southeastern U.S. is home to a vast array of native plants with a long history of use as medicines. This course introduces the medical botany of our region, emphasizing both traditional and current uses of native plants. Students will learn about the role that native plant medicines have played in U.S. history, the ecological impact of the growing demand for herbal medicines, and what is being done to move towards the sustainable use of medicinal native herbs.
Saturday, February 4
Athens
Earth Skills Series--Friction Fire
9:00 am -- 3:00 pm (bring a sack lunch)
Meet in Visitor Center, Classroom 2 (most time will be spent outdoors)
members $60; non-members $66 Limited to 12 participants ages 16 and up
Tommy Tye, Assistant Director, Institute of Wild Intelligence, Athens
Our Earth Skills series offers the opportunity to rekindle your ancestral relationship with nature by experiencing ancient earth living skills! It's not about surviving; it's about thriving!
Fire! The ability to create and use fire is one of the most fundamental primitive skills. This class will help you develop the skill to create fire from materials found in the wild. Methods will include flint & steel, bow drill, and hand drills. You will hold in your hands the power to stay warm, purify water, make tools, light up the darkness, and to cook and preserve food. This is an outdoor class a list of recommendations will be sent to participants. Learn more about Tye's work at www.tommytye.com.
Saturdays, Feb. 4, 11, 18 & 25
Athens
Watercolor Painting Inspired By Nature
10:00 am -- 3:00 pm
The Gardenside Room members $200; non-members $220
Kie Johnson, Kie Johnson MAED, watercolorist and art educator
The natural world with its endless variety will be the focus of inspiration for this four-day workshop. This workshop is designed for students with a variety of experience levels with watercolors. Students should have basic knowledge and experience with this medium.
This class provides students the opportunity to develop compositions based on the elements and principals of design. After developing initial drawings, students will explore using value studies as important building blocks to a successful painting. Students may bring their own sketches or photos or use the many wonderful sources at the Botanical Garden for developing compositions. Students will develop their paintings based on what they find inspiring and interesting. There will be demonstrations during each class, which include various techniques and approaches to working with watercolor. Students will have individual work time during classes with one-on-one instruction. A material list will be provided.
Tuesday, February 7
Athens
Cooking in the Garden: Bringing the Brine
6:00- 7:30 pm
Visitor Center, Classroom 2 member$30; non-member $36
Dean Neff, Sous Chef of Five and Ten, Athens
Join Chef Neff as he discusses the benefits of brining and curing poultry, pork and fish. The class will create a dinner entrée that will feature these techniques. Neff graduated from the Atlanta-based School of Culinary Arts in 2000. Neff currently resides as a Sous Chef at Five and Ten in Athens and is a recent graduate of the Terry College of Business at UGA.
Saturday, February 11
Athens
Natural History of Georgia Plants (a Certificate in Native Plants Core Course)
8:30 am -- 4:30 pm
Visitor Center, Classroom 2 members $95; non-members $105
Jim Hamrick, Research Professor, Department of Plant Biology, UGA
This course will introduce students to the wonderfully diverse natural vegetation of Georgia, emphasizing basic ecological principles of plant distribution, prehistoric and contemporary influences on Georgia vegetation, major vegetation types in Georgia, and common plant species that characterize each vegetation type. We will also discuss invasive species and their impact on natural plant communities, Georgia's rare and endangered species, and potential human and climate change influences on the vegetation of Georgia.
Saturday, February 11
Marietta
Georgia Native Plant Society’s 17th Native Plant Symposium
Southern Polytechnic State University
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Enjoy a day of topics devoted to native plants and the environmental communities that support them. Registration includes morning beverages and lunch. The event includes vendors and native plant sales. Limited seating, registration is required.
Speakers include Douglas Tallamy, Timothy Spira, Martin Cipollini, Bill Finch and Leslie Edwards.
Members: $50; non-members $55
To register or get speaker details, visit gnps.org/shortterm/Symposium_Announcement.php.
770-343-6000
www.gnps.org
Friday, February 17
Athens
Arbor Day Celebration--Tree Trail Ramble
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Meet at the Shade Garden Arbor Free
Linda Chafin, Conservation Botanist, SBG
In 1872, an industrious newspaper editor and political leader, J. Sterling Morton, began a campaign to plant trees on Nebraska's treeless prairie. The first Arbor Day observance was on Morton's birthday, April 10, of that same year, and by 1894 every state and some foreign countries participated in Arbor Day celebrations. In 1941, Georgia chose the third Friday in February to observe Arbor Day. Become involved in Arbor Day this year and discover humanity's true best friend! Join Linda Chafin to learn about and celebrate the trees at the Garden.
Friday, February 17
Athens
Southern Garden Heritage Conference
"Treasures Lost, History Saved: Our Southern Garden Heritage"
9:00 am -- 4:00 pm
Callaway Building Auditorium members $95; non-members $105 (includes lunch)
Join us for this informative daylong conference that examines our Southern garden heritage. Several speakers will describe the importance of Garden Clubs and their efforts to stimulate understanding and appreciation of our garden heritage, perhaps the first step in successful conservation and preservation efforts--work which continues today in the form of cultural landscape inventories and public information. Included in the program are presentations regarding three iconic Southern plantations--Carter's Grove, Magnolia Plantation and Stratford Hall, and the gardens each inspired. Learn how you can help save our garden history and heritage.
Dr. A. Jefferson Lewis, Morning Moderator
Director Emeritus, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia
Monday, February 20
Lawrenceville
Walter Reeves – Gardening For Everyone
Bethesda Senior Center
7 p.m.
The Gwinnett County Master Gardeners’ meeting will proudly feature garden expert, writer, radio and television host Walter Reeves. A most respected Southern garden guru, Walter Reeves is the author or co-author of nine books on gardening, hosts “The Lawn and Garden Show with Walter Reeves” Saturday mornings on Atlanta’s WSB radio and “Your Southern Garden” on Georgia Public Television. Walter also writes a weekly column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and distributes a biweekly email newsletter.
The meeting will be held at the Bethesda Senior Center, 225 Bethesda Church Road, Lawrenceville, Ga. The center is located at the intersection of Ronald Regan Parkway and Bethesda Church Road.
770-554-9873
Thursday, February 23
Athens
Vegetative Plant Propagation (a Certificate in Native Plants Elective)
8:30 am - 12:30 pm
Horticulture Complex-Head House members $45; non-members $50
Melanie Parker, Greenhouse Manager, State Botanical Garden of Georgia
This course will focus primarily on vegetative propagation methods applicable to native plants, providing students with basic knowledge of plant growth and morphology, as well as the technical and mechanical skills required for successful propagation. Course will take place in the new greenhouse complex.
Wednesday, February 29
Athens
Flower Arranging Unit 3: Design for Dining Table
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Visitor Center, Conservatory Great Room members $40; non-members $45
Celia McQuaid Brown, The Garden Club of Georgia, Master Flower Show Judge
This is the third in a series of five units taught by a National Garden Club Master Flower Show Judge and will focus on dining table arrangements. Participants will be provided with a list of materials to bring to class. Limited to 20. Priority will be given to those participants that have completed Units 1-2. Bring a bag lunch.
March 2-3
Bishop
20th Annual Hellebore Days
Piccadilly Farm
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Thousands of hellebores (Lenten roses) will be in full bloom.
Admission is free.
Piccadilly Farm is located south of Athens at 1971 Whippoorwill Rd., Bishop, Ga., 30521.
Call 706-769-6516 for information or directions.
April 14
Marietta
Georgia Native Plant Society’s Annual Plant Sale
McFarlane Nature Park
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Open to the public. Come find the native plants you’ve been looking for. Our plants are raised from seed, rescued from construction sites, donated by nurseries and donated by our own members. Knowledgeable folks are available to answer your questions about plant selection. Cash and checks only. Bring a wagon to cart off your great finds!
280 Farm Rd, Marietta
For more details, visit gnps.org/shortterm/Plant_Sale_Announcement.php.
770-343-6000
www.gnps.org
April 20-21
Savannah
Garden Club of Savannah 37th Annual NOGS Tour of Hidden Gardens
The walking tour includes eight walled, private gardens in Savannah’s famed Historic District, the historic Massie Heritage Center (newly renovated), and an authentic Southern tea at the Harper Fowlkes Home. Enjoy gourmet treats and live entertainment at the tea from 2-4pm.
Proceeds support the Massie Center and other community gardens in Savannah.
www.gcofsavnogstour.org
912-961-4805
State-by-State Gardening assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of listed events. It is recommended that you verify the date, time and location of any event you plan to attend.
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