The Athens-East Piedmont Chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society
Overview
The Athens-East Piedmont Chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society is active in the Athens and East Piedmont area.
Contact
You can reach us by email or visit our Facebook page.
How can I join?
For current members, login and update your chapter affiliation through the chapter affiliation form. For new or renewing members, you can also select your chapter affiliation on the membership form.
Chapter News & Events
Annual Business Meeting + Habitat Certification
Join us for our Annual Business Meeting, plus a presentation about Native Plant Habitat Certification. This meeting will be held at the Athens-Clarke County Extension Office on Sunday, November 16th from 2p – 3:30p.
A member of the GNPS State Board of Directors will join us to share a presentation on the new GNPS strategic plan. We will also discuss our chapter plans for 2026, including how best to use some of the profits we’ve made from our plant sales, and opportunities for members to get involved. After this brief business meeting, Athens-East Piedmont Board Member and GNPS certification committee member, Lisa Stephens, will share the process to achieve Native Plant Habitat Certification in your yard or garden. General information about the GNPS Native Habitat Certification process can be found here.
Bring any native plant seed you have to spare to share in our SEED SWAP! Please make sure that you have labeled your seed packets clearly labeled with common and botanical names (if possible.) We will have extra envelopes for anyone who needs them.
As always, our meeting are free and open to the public.
Native Bees
Join us on Wednesday, October 8th from 6 pm to 7:30 pm at Sandy Creek Nature Center for a presentation about Native Bees. UGA Extension Entomologist Becky Griffin will be our presenter.
As always, our programs are free and open to the public.
Year Round Native Gardening in the Georgia Piedmont
PLEASE NOTE!!! This meeting is at our new Sunday meeting location, the Athens-Clarke County Extension Office on Cleveland Road.
Join us on Sunday, September 14th from 2 pm-3:30 pm at the Athens-Clarke County Extension Office for this popular presentation on invasive plant removal, and native gardening in every season with Woods Keeper’s Michael Hudgins and Intown Atlanta GNPS board member Laura Qadri. This information-packed talk will cover the right times to identify and remove selected invasive plants, native plants to incorporate in your landscape for visual interest and wildlife habitat in every season, and key tasks to maintain and improve your native garden throughout the year. Laura and Michael’s dynamic talk has sold out repeatedly in the Atlanta area, and they’re excited to take it on the road! They have created a highly informative, season-by-season guide to developing a beautiful and ecologically beneficial native garden.
Michael Hudgins began his journey with invasive plant removal in 2017 as a service member with AmeriCorps working to restore natural areas in Northwest Atlanta. He soon developed a deep passion for forest restoration and founded Woods Keeper in 2020. Work sites include Chastain Park, Grant Park, private homes, and other green spaces throughout Metro Atlanta. Offering invasive plant removal by hand, Woods Keeper aims to preserve existing native plant species as well as the native seed bank that’s just waiting for some sunlight and a little room to grow.
Laura Qadri, vice chair of Intown Atlanta GNPS, fell in love with native plants while taking classes at the North Carolina Botanical Gardens to earn a certificate in Botanical Art and Illustration. Since moving to Georgia in 2020, Laura has been converting her yard into a native landscape and recently achieved GNPS Gold Habitat Certification. She is also involved in community gardening and restoration projects, including planting a native pollinator garden and organizing a native plant sale at a local elementary school, and gives talks to community organizations and garden clubs on why and how they can plant more native plants to support wildlife.
Following the talk, we will share and swap any native plant seeds that we have collected so far! We generally continue to do this throughout the fall and winter months. Please bring seeds in an envelope if dry, or a ziploc if wet, and label it legibly with the common name, botanical name, and date of collection if possible. We will have extra envelopes and ziplocs just in case.
As always, our events are free and open to the public.
