Date: Saturday, January 25, 2025
Time: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Fees: $115 ($105 Member)
Boxed Lunch $20, optional
Prepaid Parking $10, optional
Registration Deadline: Jan. 21
Symposium Agenda
8 a.m. Check-in at the Hardin Visitor Center. Plant Sale opens in Day Hall.
9 a.m. Opening Remarks in Day Hall
9:15 a.m. The Great Southeast Pollinator Census – discovering the insects in your garden presented by Becky Griffin
10:15 a.m. Break & Plant Sale
10:30 a.m. Plant Exploration with A Purpose presented by Scott McMahan
11:30 a.m. Newly Introduced and Newly Utilized Native Species for the Southeastern Landscape presented by Patrick McMillan
12:30 p.m. Lunch in Mershon Hall; Plant Sale in Day Hall
1:30 p.m. English Tools for a Southern Garden presented by Molly Hendry
2:30 p.m. The Making of a Border: A Perennial Wonderland presented by Adrienne Roethling
3:30 p.m. Closing Remarks
4:00 p.m. Plant Sale closes
Speakers
Becky Griffin
Community and School Garden Coordinator
Pollinator Health Associate
UGA-Georgia Mtn. Research & Education Center
The Great Southeast Pollinator Census – discovering the insects in your garden
The Great Southeast Pollinator Census is a community science event started in Georgia in 2019. It has expanded to other states and the project generates useful information on our pollinator populations. Another aspect of the project is the educational component and the awareness of insect populations and diversity that it brings to participants. Becky Griffin, coordinator of the project, will discuss this part of the project, highlighting the impact of the Census and using anecdotes to show how counting in the project changes insect perceptions of participants.
Becky Griffin is University of Georgia (UGA)’s Community & School Garden Coordinator where she works with Extension agents across the state helping create impactful gardens. She is also a Pollinator Health Associate and a Georgia certified beekeeper. Emphasizing the ecosystem of the garden and teaching workshops on beneficial entomology and integrated pest management are important parts of her work. Becky is the coordinator of the Great Southeast Pollinator Census which is a passion project for her.
Becky has been with UGA Extension for nearly 13 years and enjoys the collaborations and friendships that working with the University brings. Becky represents the Southeastern US region on the Community Seed Network Advisory Panel and sits on the board of directors for The Bee Cause. She is also part of the Southeast Bumble Bee Atlas program.
Scott McMahan
Manager of International Plant Exploration
Atlanta Botanical Garden
Plant Exploration with a Purpose
Scott’s lecture will focus on photos and stories from nearly 25 years of plant exploration in Southeast Asia and how that experience now plays an important part in his role as manager of the International Plant Exploration Program at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. In particular, Scott will be discussing the work he and his team are doing with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology with regard to documenting and collecting new plant species and helping to train their researchers on propagation techniques of some of their rarest plants. Scott will also explain the importance of a new collaboration between ABG and the Botanical Survey of India, which is the governmental arm of India’s forestry and environmental division. The agreement signed by ABG and India was the first time the Indian government has ever signed a memorandum of understanding with a non-government organization which will now allow for further exploration of NE India with Indian colleagues, the study and documentation of the vastly under-explored region as well as hosting researchers from India at ABG through a visiting scholar program.
Scott was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia. He has a Bachelor’s degree in English from Wofford College and an Associate’s Degree in Horticulture from Spartanburg Community College. Scott was the propagator for a large wholesale grower for 5 years as well as the nursery manager at the Atlanta Botanical Garden for several years before opening his first nursery. In 2003, Scott left ABG to open a nursery business in north Georgia called McMahan’s Nursery. In the fall of 2009, Scott helped to opened another retail nursery called Garden*Hood in downtown Atlanta. Between 2009 and 2016, Garden*Hood won multiple local awards including the “Best of the Big A” in the AJC and Creative Loafing’s “Best Garden shop”. In early 2016, Scott sold much of his ownership in Garden*Hood and closed McMahan’s Nursery in order to accept a full time position as the Manager of International Plant Exploration at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. With this new position, Scott oversees plant exploration, collection and evaluation at ABG as well as a visiting scholar program created to promote the exchange of knowledge and plants with other botanical institutions around the world. Since 2001, Scott has made more than 40 overseas scouting and collecting trips for ABG to China, Vietnam, India, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Bhutan and Mexico. Scott lives in Decatur, Georgia with his wife Kristie and two daughters, Lily and Olivia.
Patrick McMillan
Horticulturist for the Town of Cary, North Carolina
Newly Introduced and Newly Utilized Native Species for the Southeastern Landscape
The past several decades have seen a surge in the interest in native plants and natural planting designs. However, Homeowner Associations haven’t quite bought into having a landscape that looks a bit chaotic. Luckily, there are many great selections and species that can bring a manicured look along with all of the benefits for birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife into your landscape no matter the restrictions or covenants. Patrick’s interest in selecting and introducing native and near-natives into the trade has focused on selecting plants that look great in the landscape, have a reduced irrigation requirement for optimum growth and are easily introduced into the nursery production machine.
Patrick is the horticulturist for the Town of Cary, North Carolina. Prior to joining the Town of Cary he served as Director of Horticulture for Juniper Level Botanic Garden in Raleigh, North Carolina, Director of Heronswood Garden in Kingston, WA, and Director of the South Carolina Botanical Garden in Clemson, South Carolina where he also served as the Glenn and Heather Hilliard Professor of Environmental Sustainability. He has been involved in plant exploration, selection and introduction for over 30 years and has introduced hundreds of new selections and species into the trade, most from the Southeastern or Southwestern United States. He earned his BS in Biology from the University of North Carolina and his PhD from Clemson University. He is the first author of A Guide to the Wildflowers of South Carolina (2022) and is also well-known as the host, producer and writer of the popular Emmy-award winning TV program “Expeditions with Patrick McMillan” which aired on PBS stations nationwide.
Molly Hendry
Founder and Principal Designer, Roots and Ramblings
English Tools for a Southern Garden
The romance of an English garden seems to hold universal admiration, but how do we capture those same effects in a completely different climate and culture? Join Molly as she unpacks lessons she learned during her year of gardening across the UK and how she has translated those experiences in a Southern context. From diving head first into the magical plantings at Great Dixter, to studying naturalistic planting design with Nigel Dunnett in Sheffield, to gardening in a unique microclimate at Tresco Abbey on the Scilly Isles, Molly has spent the last six years grappling with how to translate these British experiences back home in Alabama. She has learned that while there are considerable constraints to the Southern climate, there are thrilling opportunities and a bright future for the Southern garden.
Molly is a Birmingham native whose training as a horticulturist and landscape architect has taken her across the country and world studying gardens. Most notably she spent a year working in some of the top public gardens across the UK as the 2016-17 Royal Horticultural Society’s Interchange Fellow. Upon her return to Birmingham, she was a member of the Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens team for 5.5 years helping direct the future development of the Gardens, from new planting designs to aiding in the reimagining of BBG’s Master Plan. In 2023 Molly founded her own garden design studio, Roots & Ramblings, designing plant focused gardens for true hands-in-the-dirt gardeners. Through her practice she continues to explore how to create meaningful gardens not only through designing beautiful places, but also through cultivating thoughtful gardeners.
Adrienne Roethling
Professional Horticulturist, Head Gardener for a Private Estate
The Making of a Border: A Perennial Wonderland
Gardening with Herbaceous Perennials began as a popular trend in Europe during the 1800-1900’s in the use of borders to mask a vegetable garden from those who might snatch the bounty. It only became popular in the States around the 1970’s. Plants are trendy, they are about trial and error and having a lot of patience which will lead to success. With patience in mind, one can find herbaceous perennials that require little maintenance, offer multiple seasonal appeal and flower for a longer period of time. Inspiration for this talk comes from firsthand experience including perennial border design and implementation, keeping up with the latest trends and changes, and having a curious and open-minded approach.
Adrienne Roethling began her horticulture career in high school while working for her aunt and uncle’s garden center in Rochester, New York. There she assisted with retail sales, customer service and this is where her plant knowledge blossomed. After high school, she trained, studied and graduated from the Longwood Gardens, Professional Horticulture Program in March of 2000. A two-year program designed to educate and provide students with training in the field of Public Horticulture. In 2016, she rec’d the Lois Woodward Paul Award given to a distinguished Alumni for Outstanding Horticultural Achievements. In 2000, Adrienne moved to Raleigh, North Carolina to become the Garden Curator for Juniper Level Botanic Gardens at Plant Delights Nursery. Working eight years for Horticulturalist, Tony Avent, Adrienne maintained the seven-acre garden with over 17,000 plant species. She supervised volunteers, students and staff while serving for the customer service department answering many plant questions. Hired in 2008 as Garden Curator for Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden, Adrienne focused on taking the master plan and turning it into a world class public garden. Her responsibilities included plant acquisition, nomenclature, maintaining the collection and labeling, and she oversaw full-time horticulturists, students and volunteers. In 2009, she received a two-year scholarship from Chanticleer Gardens (Wayne, PA) in Professional Development concentrating on Public Speaking, Editorial and Creative Writing and interviewing professionals in the field of Horticulture and Garden Writing. Adrienne also represented PJCBG in a public manner which included tours, lectures for the Chip Callaway Lecture Series, website administration, events, media attention and more. Adrienne has served as Vice Chair of the Kernersville Tree Commission in Kernersville, NC, as Vice President and President for the Guilford Horticultural Society in Greensboro, NC as well as Co-Chair of the Annual Symposium. She was accepted and graduated from Leadership Kernersville and served as Chair on the Downtown Committee, as well as served on the committee for Leadership Kernersville & Spring Folly’s Heritage Square and the Board of Directors for the Kernersville Chamber of Commerce. She has written articles for Seasons at Ciener (PJCBG’s quarterly newsletter), Fine Gardening Magazine, Yadkin Valley Living Magazine, Foothills Times, Martha Stewart Living and the Greensboro News & Record. She also volunteered for the Shepherd Center, at Körner’s Folly and the Kernersville Museum. She currently serves as Chair of the Small Garden’s Community for the American Public Garden Association. In May of 2024, she left PJCBG to become the Head Gardener for a 3.5-acre Private Estate in Winston Salem, NC. She is married to horticulturist, Jon Roethling, Director of Reynolda Gardens and together, they volunteer with Blue Ridge Boxer Rescue, and The Liberty Train and Rescue.
Plant Sale Vendors
Symposium FAQs
Will the symposium be recorded?
Yes! Once the recording is ready, access will be emailed to the roster and it will be available to view online for 14 days.
What are the lunch options?
Upon registration, you can add a boxed lunch for $20. The boxed lunch sandwich options are: chicken salad, turkey, or vegetarian. If you’d like to purchase food at the Garden, you may do so at Quick Café or Longleaf Restaurant. You may bring your own sack lunch if you wish.
What is the parking fee?
If you are a Garden member with a multi-visit parking pass, you may use it. If you do not have a multi-visit parking pass, you may add a $10 parking voucher to your registration. Standard parking rates apply if you are not using a multi-visit parking pass or prepaying for parking, and more information can be found here.
Contact
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact classes@atlantabg.org.