Robert and Betty Balentine

“As the twig is bent, so grows the tree”

Robert and Betty Balentine formed a bond with the natural world early on. Their formative years, whether spent in the woodland or the garden, naturally evolved into a garden and institution that has been aptly described by some as “the largest and most diverse collection of native southern Appalachian plants and their cultivars”.

Betty describes a youth filled with the delights of spending time with nature … weekends and summers collecting native wildflowers in the Tennessee Mountains and hiking throughout middle Tennessee in search of rare specimens.  Roberts’s passion for plants is genetic. Both of his parents were avid gardeners. He describes the backyard where he grew up as having a vegetable garden on one side and a rose garden on the other side. By the time he left for college, the two sides had met in the middle with Robert having dug practically every hole.

After building a weekend home in the mountains to escape the hot Atlanta summers and the rigors of a busy career in finance, Robert and Betty returned to what they had so enjoyed in their youth. Through weekends of hiking and exploring, they began to realize the unique beauty of the southern Appalachian forest surrounding their mountain home. In early 2002 they began plans for a native plant arboretum.

After much thought, planning and hard work, their early foundation in horticulture and appreciation of the natural world has culminated in the Southern Highlands Reserve.

In addition to being a beautiful garden, the Southern Highlands Reserve serves as an educational tool for the sharing of information about the importance of preserving and protecting our natural heritage. The Southern Highlands Reserve is described by the directors of the North American Land Trust, which holds title to our conserved lands, as “a safe harbor for a dwindling floristic gene pool in light of unchecked development in the southern Appalachians”.

Robert Balentine is the founding president of the Southeastern Horticultural Society. Betty Balentine is an active member of The Garden Club of America.