1994 – The Native Plant Conference in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

Jim Harrington and Jackie Fitts, with a list of interested Master Gardeners and an “if interested” notice on the bulletin board, began the effort to establish the Georgia Native Plant Society. Barbara Allen helped with the planning, while Jackie called each person on the lists and spoke on the radio with Kathy Henderson and Walter Reeves.

The first meeting was held September 14, 1994 with forty people in attendance. The first officers were:

President Jim Harrington

Vice President Jackie Fitts

Publicity Marilyn Porter

Recording Brenda Allen

Treasurer Barbara Allen

Corresponding Stan Fulghum

Georgia Botanical Liason Vivian Emerson

Programs Susan Giles & Stan Fulghum

Newsletter Editor Harriet Walls

Publisher Bobbie Boschan

December 1994 – Membership had grown to 250 members and GNPS began publishing the newsletter and NativeScape.

April 10th, 1995  – The First Annual Native Plant Symposium was held, and speakers Sally and Andy Wasowski, authors of Gardening with Native Plants of the South, waived their normal speaker’s fee, as did Kathy Henderson and George Sanko, in order to promote the first symposium.

1996 – The logo, a drawing of Hydrangea quercifolia, was designed by an artist of native plants, Linda Fraser. T-shirts and raffle tickets for plants were sold at meetings.

Georgia Native Plant Society had begun.