State Botanical Garden of Georgia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The State Botanical Garden of Georgia is a botanical garden of 323 acres (131 hectares) in the United States, with a conservatory operated by the University of Georgia. It is located at 2450 South Milledge Avenue, Athens, Georgia.
State Botanical Garden of Georgia | |
---|---|
Type | Botanical garden |
Location | Athens, Georgia |
The botanical garden was first proposed in 1967 and construction began on the site three years later, in 1970. It was originally called the University of Georgia Botanical Garden.[1]
In 1971, then Georgia governor Jimmy Carter with his wife Rosalynn Carter toured the garden's trails and later allocate $13,000 in state funds for a master plan. The garden received more funding, over $650,000, for a headquarters building from the Callaway Foundation. Rosalynn Carter visited the garden again on July 18, 1974 for the groundbreaking of the building, which was later completed in 1975.[1]
Between 1970 and 1978, the garden's budget increased over 400 percent.[1]
In September 1982, ground was broken for the $2.6 million Visitor Center and Conservatory building, which was opened to the public in 1985. The Callaway Foundation also funded an entrance plaza and fountain for the building.[1]
In September 1982, there was a groundbreaking for a Visitor Center and Conservatory building. This building cost $2.6 million and later opened to the public in 1985.[1]
The Georgia General Assembly designated the garden as The State Botanical Garden of Georgia in February 1984 in an act that allowed the garden to receive more state funding.[1][2]
An additional 19.3 acres were added to the garden property in 1990 and it totals 323 acres as of 2024.[1][3]
In 1994, the Day Chapel was completed.[1]
Jenny Cruse-Sanders was named director in 2017, replacing former director Wilf Nicholls.[4] That same year, the garden broke ground for the Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden[5] which later opened in 2019.[6]
The Fire Prevention and Response Program at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service granted the garden $1.6 million for a native seed network. This network is intended for habitat restoration after natural disasters.[7]
The garden has 235,000 visitors a year, as of 2017.[4] It has 290 acres of natural area and 32 acres of cultivated gardens, eight of which are specialty gardens.[3]
The 2.5-acre Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden opened in 2019. Features include a stone map of Georgia, a pitcher plant bog, and a cave replica embedded with fossils.[6] It was named after a member of the garden's Board of Advisors, Alice H. Richards, where after her passing in 2007 her family donated $1 million for a children’s garden.[5]
The Winter WonderLights is a yearly event in November and December that include a half-mile walking trail, which features over one million light bulbs and garnered 63,000 visitors in 2023.[3]
The Garden contains eleven botanical and horticultural collections:
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