"There's something about the Southland in the springtime." — The Indigo Girls
Our winter has been blessedly uneventful but still, bring on spring, right? Here are a few garden getaways to get you ready for the season.
Atlanta Botanical Garden-Gainesville. 1911 Sweetbay Drive, Gainesville. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays (November-March) and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays (April-October). Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for children 3-12 and free for children younger than 3 and for members. 404-888-4760, atlantabg.org/visit/gainesville.
You're probably familiar with the Atlanta Botanical Garden's main location, but consider trekking north to check out the satellite operation in Gainesville. The property features a visitor center, a model train garden, an amphitheater and a conservation nursery where endangered plants are propagated.
Special events coming up this spring include an installation by artist Patrick Dougherty, who creates botanical sculptures from wood, branches and twigs harvested on site. You can watch him at work from March 23 through April 8. The opening date of his "stickwork" exhibition titled "Woven Whimsy" will be April 9. Atlanta Botanical Garden members at the Contributing level ($195) are invited to a preview presentation and dinner from 6-8:30 p.m. April 6.
"I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high o'er vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils." — William Wordsworth
Gibbs Gardens. 1987 Gibbs Drive, Ball Ground. Spring hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. Admission is $20 for adults, $18 for seniors 65 and older, $10 for children 6-17, free for children 5 and younger and $16 per person in groups of 10 or more. 770-893-1881, gibbsgardens.com.
Is there a happier spring flower than a daffodil? And if you’re going to take a daffodil road trip, shouldn’t there be 20 million blooms involved? Gibbs Gardens, a paradise of nearly 300 acres created by renowned landscape architect Jim Gibbs, is your daffodil destination this spring. More than 100 different varieties in a wide color scale are blooming now through mid-April.
Special events planned this spring include a Q&A and book signing by Walter Reeves, whose “Lawn and Garden” show airs from 6-9 a.m. Saturdays on News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB and whose column appears in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Living section on Thursdays. The event is scheduled for 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. April 21.
“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” — Frances Hodgson Burnett, “The Secret Garden”
Looking for inspiration or just a fun afternoon? Consider one of these area garden tours.
The Druid Hills Tour of Homes and Gardens is 1-5 p.m. April 22 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m April 23-24. Tickets are $25 each or $20 each for groups of six or more. Volunteer for a four-hour shift during the tour and attend for free. The Makers Market, featuring items from artists, farmers and artisans for purchase, is 10 a.m.-8 p.m. April 23 at Slice & Pint, 1593 N. Decatur Road N.E., Atlanta. druidhillstour.org.
Through the Garden Gate, the annual Cobb Master Gardener volunteers tour, is 10 a.m.-5 p.m. May 7. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 the day of the tour. The garden fair and plant sale are from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. April 22-23 at Jim Miller Park, 2245 Callaway Road S.W., Marietta. Admission is free. cobbmastergardeners.com/garden-tour-2/.
The Gardens for Connoisseurs Tour, which showcases 12 private gardens in Atlanta, is from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. May 9-10. Ticket are $25 in advance ($20 for members) and $30 the day of the tour. Information: atlantabg.org/events-classes/events/gardens-connoisseurs-tour.
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