0011 - Friends First Friday

Join us each month at the State Botanical Garden as we have a unique educational opportunity for our friends. Each month features a guest lecturer who will bring you updates to all things garden and plant related. Sponsored by the Friends of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

July - Who Keeps Track of the Plants at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia?

Please join us as Emily James presents a program on the ins and outs of plant records. She will talk about understanding botanical names, mapping, and implementing GPS points throughout the garden.

Emily has worked at the State Botanical Garden since 2014. She is the curator of Freedom Plaza and the Garden Club of Georgia, as well as manager of plant records, plant inventory, and mapping. She is passionate about gardens and about creating a great experience for visitors.

August - Monarch Butterflies!

Please join Shawna McGrath as she gives a presentation about the importance of protecting and conserving monarch butterflies, one of the most familiar of the North American butterflies. These winged beauties must be saved from extinction! This informative and interactive presentation will be full of visuals and tips she has used over the years for rearing and releasing these beautiful creatures for their migration to Mexico. Shawna says, "My passion is monarch conservation and I hope I can bring some excitement and knowledge about how we can all become good citizen scientists and help protect this amazing species."

Shawna is a retired teacher having taught for 30 years in the state of Georgia. After retirement, she started her own business, Junie B. Farms in Monroe, GA. Besides studying and protecting Monarch butterflies, she breeds Nigerian dwarf goats. She continues her love of teaching by offering farm and garden summer camps and birthday parties for children. She likes to share her love of nature, gardening, and animals with others.

September 6 - Behind the Scenes at the SBG Greenhouses

Please join us for a behind the scenes open house of the production greenhouses at the State Botanical Garden. From 9-11 a.m., the greenhouses will be open to Friends First Friday guests for an open house event. Eli McKinney, greenhouse manager, as well as other horticulture staff will be on hand to explain plant production, the orchid collection, and functionality of the rarely opened facility. A continental breakfast will be available, so grab a plate and stroll through the facility getting a first look at the fall annual plants before they are put out into the gardens.

Eli McKinney is responsible for producing plants for the curated garden spaces, grounds restoration, plant sales and plant collections. Before coming to work at SBG, he spent many years as a farm manager at a Winterville farm producing fresh food and cut flowers for local markets and restaurants. He has also worked at Costa Farms as the Trial Garden manager and at the Coastal Georgia Botanical Garden as a grounds foreman. Eli was born and raised in Athens and holds a bachelor's degree in Horticulture from the University of Georgia.

October 4 - Container Gardening and More

As the curator of seasonal color, Sheldon Jones is responsible for the Visitor Center patio water-feature, multiple containers around the gardens (usually connected to the buildings), multiple annual and permanent beds, native grass plantings on the entrance drive, and the maintenance and care of the conifer collection at the Callaway administrative building.  Additionally, he cares for the orchid collection housed in the horticulture complex greenhouse.  

 Sheldon has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with a major in Horticulture from the University of Georgia (1992). He worked as the greenhouse manager at the State Botanical Garden (1993–1994) before accepting a position which evolved into the head horticulturist at Vines Botanical Garden in Loganville, Georgia (1994–1997). His interest in plant propagation led him to pursue a position in the private sector managing the nursery at PS Landscapes and Nursery and growing and selling unique and hard-to-find plant material (1997–2008). He then decided to establish his own business of a similar nature and called it Dogtrot Plant Nursery (2008-2011). Within that time, an opportunity to return to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia was offered as a part-time assistant with seasonal color which eventually became the curator of seasonal color position which he has enjoyed from 2011 to present.

November 1 - The Shady Side of Gardening

Sara Henderson recently retired as director of the garden at Oakland Cemetery where she served for almost 15 years. Sara has a passion for shade plants and is committed to finding the right plant for the right place. She's also committed to gardening in a way that considers our time limits and our decreasing flexibility, energy and strength as we grow older. She is credited for leading the transformation of Oakland’s gardens into the fabulous treasure they are now, restoring and expanding the garden throughout its 20 acres.

A former director says Sara “helped lift landscape up to a more prominent, valued, and appreciated element of Oakland.” Sara also established Oakland's now famous plant sale as a fundraiser. "From buying trips to Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, and anywhere else across the southeast that had something unique and special to offer, Sara was able to procure truly spectacular plants for happy buyers." Thanks to Sara's extra effort, the plant sale went from "make a little extra money" territory into a serious revenue generator that many gardening enthusiasts and community members look forward to each year. Sara is also a past president of the Georgia Perennial Plant Association.

December 6 – Pining for Spring with Cliff Brock

Join Cliff Brock as he describes what you can be doing and planning to prepare for a new year of gardening.

Winter is the season for longing and daydreaming about all the fun gardening you’ll be doing in the next few months. In this talk, Cliff will offer his personal experience picking plants and preparing his garden for the warmer months. He’ll also showcase his favorite winter-blooming species.

Originally from Monticello, Cliff has a degree in horticulture from the University of Georgia and was the curator of the State Botanical Garden's Flower Garden for four years. He has also worked at the New England Wildflower Society and Plant Delights Nursery. His interests include heirloom plants, perennials, wildflowers, and shrubs and trees. He currently works as an organist and music director at Newnan Presbyterian Church. He also enjoys writing in his blog cliffordbrock.com.