The North Metro Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society
Overview
The North Metro Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society was formed in 2021 and we have a membership of 300 and growing! While we have no particular geographic boundary, our members are mostly in Marietta, Roswell, North Atlanta, Dunwoody, Woodstock, Alpharetta, Chamblee, Cumming, Sandy Springs, Acworth, Kennesaw and anywhere in between and beyond.
Meetings
We meet at various locations in our areas on both weekends and weekdays to accommodate our varying commutes and schedules.
Bylaws and Board Members
At our first annual meeting in 2021, the members adopted our bylaws and elected board members: Carling Kirk, Renee Hood, Dana Hallberg, Lilly Vicens, Whitney Ramsey, and Pat Carson.
Contact
You can reach us by email, or check out our Facebook page. You can also connect with other members in our private Facebook group.
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
Event: Native Plants of the Cherokee
Join the North Metro Atlanta Chapter for an educational event, Native Plants of the Cherokee on August 13th at 10:30AM at the Alpharetta Library featuring author Mark Warren talking on how some of the most common native plants and trees were used by the Cherokee for food, medicine, insect repellent, crafts, shelter and fire. Mark Warren is the owner of the nationally renowned Medicine Bow Wilderness School in Dahlonega, GA, has been teaching nature and survival skills of the Cherokee to adults and children for half a century.
About the program
Mark believes today’s society can — and should — learn some valuable lessons and skills from those native people who inhabited this continent hundreds of years before European explorers ever landed on its shores. He will be discussing how some of the most common native plants and trees were used by the Cherokee for food, medicine, insect repellent, crafts, shelter and fire. Mark will bring along some plants and handmade crafts for viewing and discussion.
“All of us who live in Southern Appalachia reside on land that once belonged to the Cherokee. While these native people led lives of intimate daily interaction with their natural surroundings, most folks today have reduced nature to a backdrop of scenery. The great deficit in this scenario is our lack of understanding that we still depend upon nature. That dependency is largely hidden to us, especially to the new generations that come along to take over the ‘rules’ of how we behave with nature — air to breathe, water to drink, energy to consume for our daily actions. These are commodities that are easy to take for granted. If taken for granted, humans will have no reason to respect and conserve the pieces of the puzzle we call ecology.” – Mark Warren
About Mark Warren
Mark Warren is a graduate of the University of Georgia. At Medicine Bow, his nationally renowned wilderness school in the Southern Appalachians, he teaches nature classes and survival skills of the Cherokees. The National Wildlife Federation named him Georgia’s Conservation Educator of the Year in 1980. In 1998 Mark became the U.S. National Champion in whitewater canoeing, and in 1999 he won the World Championship Longbow title.
Warren has written extensively about nature for local and national magazines. He lectures on Native American history and survival skills, and Western Frontier History presenting at museums and cultural centers around the country. He is a member of the Wild West History Association, and Western Writers of America. His Wyatt Earp, An American Odyssey trilogy was honored by WWA’s Spur Awards, The Historical Novel Society and the 2020 Will Rogers Medallion Awards under the original hardback editions, Born to the Badge (2018) and Promised Land (2019.)
His published books include: from Lyons Press, Two Winters in a Tipi and Secrets of the Forest (a four volume series on nature and primitive skills), from Five Star – Gale Cengage and Two Dot, Wyatt Earp, An American Odyssey (an historical fiction trilogy on the life of Wyatt Earp), from Five Star – Gale Cengage, Indigo Heaven, The Cowboy, The Librarian and the Broomsman from the anthology Librarians of the West: A Quartet, Westering Trail Travesties, and from Speaking Volumes, Song of the Horseman and Last of the Pistoleers.
**Note: The Alpharetta Library prohibits the sale of books at events. If you would like to purchase from the author, please visit his website at www.markwarrenbooks.com
North Metro Atlanta 2022 Spring Plant Sale Info

What plants will be Available?
- Cottage Garden Natives
- North Georgia Native Plant Nursery
- Botany Yards (seeds)
Can you Volunteer?
GNPS to Participate in Alpharetta Community Food Forum
The Georgia Native Plant Society has been invited to participate in the Community Food Forum for Alpharetta residents at Old Rucker Park & Farm on Saturday, December 4, 10-11:30 a.m. Members of the new North Metro Chapter will serve as docents to provide native plant information and explain the role of the park’s native plant garden in attracting beneficial insects for the donation farm’s fruit and vegetable crops.
For Alpharetta, hosting a Community Food Forum is the next step in the selection process for a grant to develop the Atlanta region’s second City Agriculture Plan in partnership with Food Well Alliance and the Atlanta Regional Commission. The grant will be of direct benefit to the community and Old Rucker Park & Farm. The Community Food Forum is an opportunity for residents to learn more about the City Agriculture Plan process, voice their support for a strong local food system, and ask questions.
View more details about the event: GNPS to Participate in Alpharetta Community Food Forum