Founders Memorial Garden

The Founders Memorial Garden, located in Athens, Georgia on the campus of the University of Georgia, is a 2 1/2 acre garden that memorializes America's first garden club - The Ladies Garden Club of Athens - which was founded in 1891.  It was begun in 1936 by the Garden Club of Georgia, and was completed in 1946.

It includes an arboretum, formal boxwood garden, a perennial garden, and two courtyards.

 The garden is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.  Admission is free.

Mobile Botanical Gardens

The Mobile Botanical Gardens are located in Mobile, Alabama.  They were founded in 1974 and cover over 100 acres.  They include a beautiful Rhododendron Garden, a Fern Glade, Fragrance and Texture garden, Japanese Maple Garden, and Herb garden.  There's also a 40 acre long-needle pine forest with walking trails, perfect for an afternoon hike.

Admission is $5.00 for adults.  Children 12 and under are free.  The gardens are open daily from dawn to dusk.

Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens

The Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens is located about ten miles southwest of downtown Savannah, Georgia. It's a fifty acre garden which is part of the University of Georgia.

The garden's collections began in 1890 when Mrs. H. B. Miller planted three huge Japanese timber bamboo plants. They had become a substantial grove in 1915, which got the attention of botanist, David Fairchild. His friend, Barbour Lathrop, purchased the site and added to the collection. In 1983 it was deeded to the University of Georgia and is part of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Today the garden has over 100 kinds of bamboo, making it the largest collection open to the public in North America.

While the gardens are noted for the remarkable bamboo collection (and bamboo maze), there are plenty of other flowers here.  There's a Mediterranean garden, a water garden which showcases a nine-foot waterfall, an orchid greenhouse, and a cottage garden with a white gazebo which is a popular site for weddings.

The gardens are open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Saturday from 10:00 - 5:00, and Sunday from 12:00 - 5:00.  Admission is free.

Charles W. Ireland Sculpture Garden

Today's garden is a little bit different.  It's not so much about the plants, as it is the artwork.  The Charles W. Ireland Sculpture Garden, located in Birmingham, Alabama, is part of the Birmingham Museum of Art.  It is a 30,000 square foot garden designed in 1993 by Elyn Zimmerman.  It has three levels with changing exhibits:  The Red Mountain Garden area which houses sculptures of Augusta Rodin and contemporary artists, a Lower Gallery which is for temporary exhibits, and the Upper Plaza which is for monumental sculptures.  Two very nice features are the waterwall, entitled, Lithos II by Elyn Zimmerman, and the colorful Blue Pools Courtyard by Valerie Jaudon.

The gardens are a nice place to go for a leisurely stroll, or to park yourself on a bench and admire the artwork.

The gardens are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sundays from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM.  Admission is free.