Plant Of The Year
GNPS initiated its Plant of the Year program in 2000. The purpose of this program is to recognize native plants that are underutilized in commercial and residential landscapes or which are vital components of Georgia’s ecology. We are looking beyond beauty, even though this is what often draws us to a special native plant in the first place.
Every fall, GNPS members nominate a plant they feel is deserving of being Plant of the Year for the upcoming year. Besides being native to the state of Georgia and underutilized in landscaping, a good candidate for Plant of the Year will not demand growing conditions that are too difficult for most Georgia gardeners to achieve. A slate of candidates are presented to the GNPS membership to vote on and the winner is showcased in the educational content, plant sales and on a custom-designed shirt.
Plant of The Year
2013 Plant Of The Year | Sassafras albidum
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) is Georgia Native Plant Society's Plant of the Year for 2013. Sassafras is a deciduous tree that grows in every county of Georgia and is widely distributed over the eastern US....
2012 Plant Of The Year | Sanguinaria canadensis
The members of the Georgia Native Plant Society have chosen bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) as our Plant of the Year for 2012. This woodland perennial is a member of the Papaveraceae (Poppy) family and is known as a spring...
2011 Plant Of The Year | Viburnum acerifolium
Voted the GNPS 2011 Plant of the Year, mapleleaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) is a shrub native to thickets and shaded woods from New Brunswick, Canada, west to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, south to Florida and west to...
2010 Plant Of The Year | Asclepias tuberosa
Voted the GNPS 2010 Plant of the Year, butterfly weed is a common, long-lived and striking perennial native to North America from southern Canada and New York to Minnesota, south to Florida and Colorado. This flowering...
2009 Plant Of The Year | Quercus alba
The Georgia Native Plant Society is very pleased to announce the selection, by its enthusiastic members, of white oak (Quercus alba) as the Society's 2009 Plant of the Year, the first canopy tree selected....
