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Georgia Gardener

Native plants from North Georgia...

16 years ago

I am from Europe and have no idea about native plant in Georgia. I am now reshaping my garden and would like to fill it with north Georgia native plant (in Athens surrounding). Do you have some names of the plant I can plant, and where I ca buy them? Any info to help me to have a Georgian garden would be great.

PS: I am also surrounding by mosquito. Do you have any ecological trick to repulse them?

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Comments (3)

razorback33
16 years ago
Welcome to Georgia!
I would recommend a tour of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, located on the campus of the U of GA, there in Athens. It is a large garden, covering 300 acres (121 hectares) and one section is devoted to GA native plants. Take a notebook and record some of the plants you find attractive and wish to plant. Most of the spring flowering natives will be dormant at this time of the year, so you will need to schedule a return trip next spring.
There are several nurseries in the Athens area that sell native plants, Goodness Grows & Thyme After Thyme are 2 that I'm familar with.
When in the Atlanta area, you may want to visit the Peremeter College Native Plant Botanical Garden, easily accessible from I-285, near the intersection with I-20,East of Atlanta. The Atlanta Botanical Garden, at Piedmont Park, intown Atlanta, is another resource.
Georgia has a very active Native Plant Society that is a great source of information about native plants.
Visit the website at: http://www.gnps.org/
Have fun and enjoy the natives!
Rb
I don't have a sure fire method of combating mosquitos without chemicals, no one does, but eliminating standing water around the premises reduces breeding grounds, wearing white or light colored loose fitting clothing when outdoors, covering as much exposed skin as possible, will reduce your attractiveness to the biting females.

Here is a link that might be useful: State Botanical Garden of Georgia
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buford
16 years ago
There are a lot of new mosquito repellent sprays that don't smell or feel as bad as the old sprays. I have noticed more mosquitoes since it started raining.
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The Genus name is Chimaphila (Pyrolaceae - Shinleaf Family). There are 2 species of Chimaphila found in North GA. The most common one is Chimaphila maculatum, often called Striped Wintergreen or Striped Pipsissewa. These common names are also applied to the other, less widespread species, Chimaphila umbellata, ssp. cisatlantica, without the pronoun, Striped, as it has solid green leaves. The common name, Rat's Vein and Ratsvane were originally used for Chimaphila umbellata, but in recent years, has been used in reference to both species. Both have been used for medicinal purposes for centuries and another common name is, Rheumatism Root. Below is the GA distribution map for Chimaphila. Be aware that this map is incomplete, as I have found the plants in many locations, other than those counties shown. Rb Here is a link that might be useful: Chimaphila in Georgia
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Iris GW
16 years ago
Welcome! I second the suggestion to look into the Georgia Native Plant Society (GNPS). I'm a member and I've learned a lot since joining - especially about what I had in my backyard (which was wooded).

As for mosquitos - light weight long pants are important for working in the yard. Otherwise, they just eat you up.

Here is a link that might be useful: GNPS
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