Southern Highlands Reserve Begins Native Plant Summer Symposiums

After six years of garden building, it was a pleasure to spend the summer of our seventh year showing off our handiwork through a series of educational symposiums. This is the first year we have been able to put the educational segment of our mission into practice.

In April, John Turner and Robert Balentine traveled to Atlanta to give a presentation on the Southern Highlands Reserve to the Peachtree Garden Club.

In May, the Cherokee Garden Club of Atlanta, Georgia Native Plant Society, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and the Lake Toxaway Garden Club visited the Reserve during what was one of the most outstanding flower displays of many years. Rhododendron vaseyi, calendulaceum, and viscosum all put on a magnificent show, supported by all the flowering groundcovers of the Reserve from Trillium, Phlox and Tiarella to Galax and Fly Poison.

On May 30, the Southern Highlands Reserve sponsored a well-attended and successful fundraiser for United Way of Transylvania County.

In June, a group from the Atlanta Botanical Garden visited and the Lake Toxaway Garden Club began the first of a series of Native Plant Summer Symposiums held at the Reserve. Garden club members provided transportation, a reservation system and general logistic support while the Southern Highlands Reserve provided the facility and program. This year’s symposium was based on an introduction to the unique and diverse character of the southern Appalachian Mountains with an emphasis on biodiversity and the important role that native insects play in supporting our ecosystem. The symposiums were not only educational but a lot of fun. Everyone is looking forward to next year’s series. Three symposiums were held in June. Five were held in July.

In July, the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference, the nation’s premier native plant conference, visited the Reserve for an all-day pre-conference tour. This has been an annual event for the past several years and one we all polish up for. These are serious and knowledgeable native plant folks so we learn as much as we teach on these occasions.

 In August, the High Hampton Garden Club will visit, followed by the Highlands Native Plant Conference in September.