0011 | Friends First Friday
Join us each month at the State Botanical Garden for a unique educational opportunity! Every Friends First Friday features a guest lecturer who brings expert knowledge on all things garden and plant related. Friends First Friday is sponsored by the Friends of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.
March 6: The American Chestnut, in a nutshell
Join Ryan McNeill as he presents “The American Chestnut, in a nutshell.” He will provide a brief introduction to the chestnut’s phylogeny, the history of the American chestnut and its uses in North America, its decline due to introduced diseases, and current research aimed at overcoming these introduced pests and reintroducing resistant genotypes to its native range.
McNeill is originally from Lithonia, Georgia, and came to UGA to study biochemistry in 1992. He changed majors after becoming a student worker at the State Botanical Garden. He was the first curator of the Heritage Garden, which opened in early 2000.
He is currently the superintendent of the UGA Durham Horticulture Research Farm in Watkinsville. McNeill holds a master’s degree and a PhD in horticulture. His research focuses on developing methods to enhance the somatic embryogenesis of American chestnuts. He is active in the Georgia chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, where he’s been a member for over 15 years and has served on the board.
April 3: Composting: Turning waste into resource
Join Suki Janssen, director of the Athens-Clarke County Solid Waste Department, for a brief presentation on how composting transforms organic material into a valuable soil amendment that supports healthy gardens and sustainable communities. Learn about local composting efforts, best practices for starting your own compost system, and how diverting food scraps and yard debris helps reduce landfill use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Janssen has served as the director of the ACC Solid Waste Department for over 20 years, leading innovative waste reduction and sustainability initiatives. Her proudest achievement is bringing Georgia’s first Center for Hard to Recycle Materials to Athens. A longtime leader in the field, she is a past president of the Georgia Recycling Coalition, serves on the SWANA Georgia Chapter’s International Advisory Council, and chairs its Road-E-O and Safety Committees. An environmental educator at heart, she also authored the children’s book "There Goes the Neighborhood," which celebrates nature’s best recycler—the vulture.
May 8: Hostas for your garden
From hosta newbie to veteran hosta growers, there’ll be something for everyone at this Friends First Friday when Pat Brussack presents on this plant that can add such a rich variety of ornamentation to a Southern garden. You’ll learn about cultural practices to nurture this plant, as well as disease and pest control. Brussack will recommend varieties that perform well in Georgia and suggest sources for these plants. Following the program, registrants will be invited to view and do their own garden performance evaluation of over 300 named hostas in Brusack’s garden, less than five miles from the State Botanical Garden.
Pat’s connection with genus Hosta began in 1991 with the purchase of Hosta lancifolia, Hosta ‘Antioch’ and Hosta ‘Blue Cadet’ for her two-acre wooded lot. The progeny of those plants now make up a large portion of a hosta border in her garden. Her expanding collection of hostas, combined with the need for expertise and improved cultivars, led to her membership in the Georgia Hosta Society. In addition to hostas, Brussack’s garden features plantings of all types of hydrangea and extensive borders of mixed perennials and shrubs, including many native species, as well as a large raised-bed vegetable garden.