UGA Pollinator Gardens

Presidents Club Garden

The Presidents Club Garden beautifully incorporates native plants into the formal landscaping of North Campus without sacrificing aesthetic. Located by Old College, the garden was established in 1973 to recognize early benefactors of the university and was named to honor the past leadership of the University of Georgia. 

Be on the lookout for:

Clockweed (Oenothera lindheimeri)

Clockweed goes by many names including Indian feather and White Gaura and is native to southern Louisiana and Texas. It is found in prairies, pinelands, and pond edges and is a pollinator magnet for bees, butterflies, and moths!

Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis)

Ironweed is a perennial wildflower that belongs to the Aster family native to southeastern US. Its flowers attract many pollinators, especially bees and butterflies, and songbirds snack on the plant's seeds. 

Mealy Sage (Salvia farinacea)

Mealy Sage (aka mealycup sage, mealy blue sage, and blue sage) is a herbaceous perennial of the mint family that is native to Mexico and the southwestern US. Commonly used as a landscaping plant, mealycup sage can be grown in beds, edges, or containers. Its vibrant flows and sweet fragrance attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. 

Square Footage: 883 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

Founders Memorial Garden

The Founders Memorial Garden was created to commemorate the twelve founders of the American garden club movement and to memorialize those who served in the US Armed Forces. It houses more than 300 species of plants. Most of the plants are not native to Native America, but there are hundreds of flowering plants that provide pollinators with cozy housing and delicious nectar.

Be on the lookout for:

Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)

Aromatic Aster is a perennial native to the eastern and southern US. Pollinators like bees, butterflies, and skippers collect nectar from the aromatic aster’s flowers. It is also a food source of many insects like the caterpillar of the Silvery Checkerspot butterfly and larvae of different moths.

Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida)

ePurple Heart is an evergreen perennial that is native to northeast Mexico generally grown as an ornamental or a ground cover landscaping plant. In addition to being aesthetically pleasing to people, pollinators are also attracted to its small, pink and purple flowers.

Elegant Zinnia (Zinnia elegans)

Zinnias are an annual, summer/fall bloomer that are native to Mexico. They are often used as ornamentals in landscaping. Their colorful flowers attract many pollinators like bees and butterflies!

Square Footage: 11,267 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Latin American Ethnobotanical Garden

The Latin American Ethnobotanical Garden (LAEG) is home to many plants native to Latin America and the Caribbean. There is also a surprise collection of Georgia native trees and shrubs. It's no surprise that LAEG is a hotspot for pollinator sightings! 

The garden was established in 1998 by professors and students to study ethnobotany, which looks at the relationship between plants and people. LAEG is managed by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute (LACSI) and is used as a living classroom for students and faculty.

Be on the lookout for:

Mexican Milkweed or Blood-flower (Asclepias currisavica) 

Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans) If you smell pineapple in LAEG, you have sniffed out the sweet Pineapple Sage! Besides having a convincing pineapple impression, this sage is a pollinator magnet. Hummingbirds can’t resist its brightly colored flowers. 

Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium) The Rattlesnake Master earned its name by helping Indigenous peoples treat numerous problems, including snake bites! It is native to the Southeastern US and another pollinator favorite. Although a bit stinky, this flower attracts the likes of wasps and flies. 

Contact: Paul Duncan (pduncan@uga.edu)

Square Footage: 1,632 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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UGA Memorial Garden

The UGA Memorial Garden is located by the second floor entrance of the Miller Learning Center at the heart of campus. This garden is home to a number of native plants and is a great outdoor study space for students. 

Each year, the State Botanical Garden of Georgia selects four of the top performing landscaping plants that support pollinators. The 2021 Pollinator Plants of the year are planted in the UGA Memorial Garden. 

Square Footage: 1,188 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Tanyard Creek Natural Area 1

Tanyard Creek is a small waterway that runs east to west through UGA's campus. It was originally called tanning creek, due to the service it provided for tanning animal skins. Its name evolved to be known as Tanyard Creek today. The creek flows through campus and under Sanford stadium through multiple culverts. These culverts, or pipes, are around 6 feet tall 14 feet wide. Around the creek is habitat for vegetation and wildlife, and the culvert itself provides a potential habitat for niche pollinators like bats.

Square Footage Area 1: 21,226 sq ft Square Footage Tanyard Creek ALL: 36,763 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Tanyard Creek Natural Area 2, continued

Tanyard Creek is one of four watersheds on UGA's campus. A watershed is a place where water from a large area of land drains to. When our watersheds are directed under asphalt and concrete structures, it's harder for water to fall into those watersheds and fill up the underground water supply. The underground water supply is where a lot of our drinking water and tap water comes from, so it's important to allow it to refill naturally.

When thinking about pollinator habitats, rather than just thinking about what kinds of plants we should plant, we need to also think about the whole system that makes up our landscape. This includes things like our watershed. We need to ask, "How do we improve the ecological systems around us to also encourage the existence of the different wildlife we need to keep the world a healthy place?"

Square Footage Area 2: 5,013 sq ft Square Footage Tanyard Creek ALL: 36,763 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Tanyard Creek Natural Area 3, continued

Since before UGA's conception, Tanyard Creek has been a means to dump pollutants, landscape waste, and trash. Because it is central to campus and relatively invisible, it has been a convenient place to put things that people don't want to see or deal with. However, in the past 20 years, students and faculty of UGA have been working to restore Tanyard Creek and make it a valued feature of campus rather than something to be covered up and put underground. Organizations like the Chew Crew use goats to clean up invasive plants from the creeks around UGA. Classes from various disciplines also study the creek to discover ways to restore the water quality and people's appreciation for it.

Some common invasive species you can keep an eye out for:

Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

Japanese honeysuckles can come in the form of shrubs or vines. The vines — like kudzu, the Southeast’s most-invasive mortal enemy — are capable of growing up and over trees. That blocks the native plant’s access to sunlight, and the plant dies.

English Ivy (Hedera helix)

English ivy is an aggressive invader that threatens all vegetation levels of forested and open areas, growing along the ground as well as into the forest canopy. Vines climbing up tree trunks spread out and envelop branches and twigs, blocking sunlight from reaching the host tree’s foliage, thereby impeding photosynthesis. An infested tree will exhibit decline for several to many years before it dies. The added weight of vines also makes trees susceptible to blowing over during storms. English ivy has been confirmed as a reservoir for bacterial leaf scorch (Xylella fastidiosa), a harmful plant pathogen that affects a wide variety of native and ornamental trees such as elms, oaks and maples.

Square Footage Area 3: 10,523 sq ft Square Footage Tanyard Creek ALL: 36,763 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Geography-Geology Green Roof

The Geography-Geology Green Roof is a 3,000 sq ft fruit and vegetable garden established in the 1960s. As part of the Botanical Gardens’ RoofBuzz program, the green roof also has a thriving plot of native plants! These native plants support our pollinator friends that service the food plants grown in the garden. The fresh food grown on the green roof is donated to the Campus Kitchen at UGA which prepares and distributes it to families in need. 

Be on the lookout for:

Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii)

Autumn Sage is a perennial shrub home to the mint family. It is native to the southwestern US and Mexico and used as a popular landscaping plant. Its bright red flowers attract bees and hummingbirds, and Autumn Sage’s fragrant leaves can be used for teas and seasoning.

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)

Rosemary is a herbaceous perennial that is also part of the mint family. It is commonly used as a delicious herb to spice up dishes, but did you know that it is also a pollinator friendly plant? Rosemary’s fragrant leaves and tiny flowers attract insect pollinators like bees and butterflies!

Instagram:  @geog_greenroof 

Square Footage: 581 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Georgia Center Pollinator Plant of the Year Garden

The Georgia Center Pollinator Garden is a garden of 50 perennial pollinator plants established in 2023. As part of the Botanical Gardens’ Pollinator Plant of the Year program, the garden includes Aromatic Astor and Blue Wild Indigo, both of which are from the most recent Pollinator Plant of the Year list.

The Georgia Center is visited by thousands of visitors per year, so it's a prime location for exposure to and education about pollinator gardens and their benefit to society. This is done through educational tools such as signage to teach the importance of incorporating pollinators into every landscape as a way to stimulate healthy ecosystems.

Square Footage: 581 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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UGA Horticulture Trial Gardens

The UGA Trial Gardens is a living laboratory that conducts research on new crop introductions and crop resiliency in Georgia’s climate. The garden receives seeds from companies all over the country and is now home to over 350 plants. The trials are planted in April and May and monitored year-round. Luckily, pollinators can almost always find something blooming at the Trial Gardens!

Instagram:  @trialgardens 

Square Footage: 5,883 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Odum School of Ecology Connect to Protect Garden

The Odum School of Ecology is home to a Connect to Protect pollinator garden. Established in 2018 in partnership with the State Botanical Garden of GA, the garden contains various native plants that provide food and housing to our pollinator friends and other native wildlife. This summer another pollinator garden was planted in the Ecology courtyard.

Be on the lookout for:

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) 

Cardinal Flower is herbaceous perennial that likes its feet wet. Native to the Eastern US, it  is successful in moist areas like water and rain gardens and can be a great addition to pollinator gardens. Cardinal Flower’s colorful blooms attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees.

Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium spp.) 

Joe-Pye Weed is native perennial wildflower in the Aster Family. Joe is a hearty plant whose tall stature can compliment any garden. This plant’s large whorled blooms are magnets for many species of bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects.

Square Footage: 305 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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D.W. Brooks Connect to Protect Garden (C2P)

Nested within the D.W. Brooks Mall is a Connect to Protect pollinator garden. Like all Connect to Protect gardens, the D.W. Brooks garden was created in partnership with the State Botanical Garden of GA. These gardens connect people with the landscapes and pollinators with food and shelter resources through native plant displays and education materials. The garden contains various native plants that provide food and housing to our pollinator friends and other native wildlife.

Be on the lookout for:

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta)

Black-eyed Susans are a pollinator and campus landscaping favorite. These plants are native to eastern North America and can be an annual, biennial, or perennial based on its growning conditions. Across campus, butterflies, bees, and insects collect nectar from these bright yellow flowers and birds munch on the plant’s seeds.

Georgia Aster (Symphyotrichum georgianum) 

Georgia Aster was once commonly found across GA in meadows and prairies but has become rare because of habitat destruction. It is a perennial that loves the sun and another pollinator favorite. Bees and other pollinators frequently feed on the Georgia Aster.

Square Footage: 524 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Living Lab resources for classes and projects:

Mary Frances Early College of Education

In 2013, Dr. Miller created a pocket garden on the slope beside the Mary Francis Early College of Education as space for hands-on learning outside of the classroom. His class focused on planting various species, including native perennials. Dr. Miller and Jason Hubbard of the UGA Grounds Department focused on establishing a garden that would amend the soil and support a garden like the one that flourishes there today.

Be on the Lookout for:

Green-headed Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)

Green Headed Conflower is a perennial wildflower that successfully tolerates Georgia’s hot and humid summers. Pollinators are attracted to the blooms for nectar, and many birds, especially American Goldfinshes, snack on this coneflower’s seeds. 

Anise Sage (Salvia guarantica)

Blue Anise Sage is native to South America and is planted throughout UGA’s campus. It is believed that Indigenous groups, such as the Guarani, used this plant for its medicinal properties. Blue Anise Sage’s striking violet flowers, fragrant scent attract, and nectar attract hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.

Square Footage: 1,315 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

Tucker Hall

Bordering Tucker Hall on East Campus Road is a pollinator garden that was established by Elizabeth Esser, an alum in Ecology and Genetics, in 2022. Elizabeth received a Campus Sustainability Grant to re-landscape UGA’s campus with native plants. She worked with student collaborator, Claudia White, UGA Grounds, and the State Botanical Garden to remove invasive species at two locations and replace them with a variety of pollinator friendly plants.

Square Footage: 115 sq ft

Georgia Museum of Art

On the South side of the Georgia Museum of Art, Jason Hubbard transformed another forgotten blighted patch of land with compacted clay into a little oasis for students and wildlife. Using soil from compost and plants from the backyard, Hubbard intended for the garden to provide essential nutrients to pollinators while also encouraging students to take a break from the concrete and step into a tranquil garden niche.

Be on the lookout for:

Baby Sage (Salvia microphylla)

Baby Sage is an evergreen shrub that belongs to the mint family and is native to Arizona and found throughout the Southern US and Central America. Its aromatic leaves that can be used to make tea that treats cough and fever. Baby Sage also attracts pollinating insects and hummingbirds.

Square Footage: 248 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Swamp Milkweed Site

Dr. Altizer’s Monarch Lab at UGA donated 117 swamp milkweed plants to the Office of Sustainability’s Pollinator Protection Project for planting on campus in November 2020. In collaboration with an Ecology intern and the Grounds Department, the Office of Sustainability was able to host more than 10 volunteers to help plant the garden on a floodplain next to the Lily Branch Creek.

Square Footage: 447 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Driftmier Woods

Snuggled between Driftmier Engineering Center and University Village, Driftmier Woods is a rare 10-acre patch of old-growth piedmont forest (some trees from the 1870s!), the only woodland of its kind of UGA’s campus. Old forests like Driftmier Woods often support a much broader array of plants, fungi, insects, and other life forms than younger forests. The UGA Chew Crew has been restoring these woods to their more natural state by employing goats to munch on the invasive species that have started to take over. This will allow more pollinators to find their habitat in these woods, as there will be more native flowers and nesting sites.

Square Footage: 64,244 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Lake Herrick Edible Forest

In 2021, Abbie Dillon, an undergraduate Horticulture major, established an edible forest on the edge of Lake Herrick as a part of the UGA Edible Landscape Project. This initiative was funded by a Campus Sustainability Grant. The goal of the project was to install regionally appropriate fruiting plants for educational and nutritional opportunities for students and community members.

Square Footage: 1,168 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Lake Herrick Pollinator Garden

Lake Herrick was established in 1982 as a recreational resource for the University of Georgia. Since implementing efforts to improve water quality and expand recreational opportunities, the lake to become a center of community events, research, and recreation. Lake Herrick is also home to another pollinator garden. On the lake’s edge, rests a beautiful habitat that is conveniently placed right next to an important source of water for pollinators. 

Be on the lookout for:

American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) 

American Beautyberry is a campus landscaping favorite native to the Southern US. It is a perennial shrub that is easily recognizable by its bright purple fruits. In addition to being a great ornamental plant for any landscape, American Beautyberry has several ecological benefits. Wildlife feed on the plant, and pollinators use the plant as a source of nectar. 

Groundsel Tree (Baccharis halimifolia) 

Groundsel Tree is a perennial bush that is native to the Coastal Eastern US. It is a rather hearty tree that is resistant to heat, drought, and soil compaction and blooms in the fall and summer. The Groundsel Tree attracts pollinators with its nectar producing flowers and feeds birds with its seeds. 

Square Footage: 1,645 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Oconee Forest Park

Oconee Forest Park is a 60-acre natural area nestled behind the Intramural Fields of the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. Administered by the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, Oconee Forest Park offers recreational, educational, and research opportunities for the University and Athens community, while preserving its 100-year-old forest.

Oconee Forest Park provides a service not only for the people who like to hike but also for native pollinators such as insects, birds, and bats. Forests are important to many pollinator species, which require dead wood and other nesting habitats found only in forests. And forest pollinators are easy to overlook – they are often highly seasonal, especially in temperate regions, and many are active far above our heads in the forest canopy.

Square Footage: 278,016 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Oconee Forest Park Pollinator Garden

In Spring 2019, an ecology service-learning class taught by Dr. Amanda Rugenski and Dr. Richard Hall created a pollinator garden behind the stormwater pond in the Oconee Forest Park. Students received a small grant from Oconee Rivers Audubon Society to install a variety of native plantings. The garden is now maintained by student volunteers in Lilly Branch Audubon (the UGA campus chapter of National Audubon Society, an organization that protects birds and their habitats).

Be on the look out: 

Blue Mist (Conoclinium Coelestinum) 

Blue Mist is a perennial wildflower that is native to the Central and Southeastern US. This low-maintence native was named one of Georgia’s Pollinator Plants of the Year for 2022. Blue Mist supports many pollinators, including native bees like the leafcutter bee. 

Square Footage: 644 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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UGA Golf Course

The UGA Golf Course is an active pioneer in the field of golf course sustainability. They work on many fronts to have a low operational impact on the environment and provide many avenues for soil research and biodiversity.

One example of this research was generated in March 2022 when a unique partnership was formed between Scott Griffith from the UGA Golf Course and Dr. Jennifer Berry from the UGA Bee Lab to install two bee hives at the UGA Golf Course. This bee hive installation located at the 10th hole is just one part of the golf course's commitment to low environmental impact management.

Square Footage: 23,900 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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State Botanical Garden of Georgia

As a unit of Public Service and Outreach at UGA, the State Botanical Garden of Georgia has plants of almost every color, shape, size, and origin to be found, these gardens are an extensive network of flowering plants where pollinators thrive. 

There are multiple gardens dedicated to solely to native plants, and the Garden contributes to many pollinator support programs. Among these are Connect to Protect, the Georgia Native Plant Initiative, Georgia Pollinator Plants of the Year Program, and the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance. The Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies at the Garden also does extensive work with conserving native plant species and pollinators and does a Native Plant Sale every October to make planting your own natives for pollinators easy. 

Plan your visit:

Two of the newest gardens, The Alice H. Richards Children's Garden and the Discovery and Inspiration Garden, are predominately planted with native plants.

The Botanical Garden is also home to several bee hives that steadily work to create flourishing landscapes at the garden.

Instagram:  @botanicalgarden_ga 

Square Footage: 90,710 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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UGArden

The mission of UGArden is to build a community of students centered on a sustainable food system. In addition to growing an abundance of food which is then donated to Campus Kitchens at UGA, students come together to organically and sustainably grow a large variety of crops, which always have some flowers and habitat for pollinators. There are volunteer opportunities every week to learn and help out. 

Instagram:  @theugarden 

Square Footage: 52,889 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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Whitehall Forest

The UGA Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources established Whitehall Forest in 1936. The property is bordered on the north by Whitehall Road, on the east by the North Oconee River and the Norfolk Southern Railroad, on the south by the North Oconee and Middle Oconee Rivers, and on the west by the Middle Oconee River.

The 840 acres comprised of both upland and bottomland hardwood forest serves as a research location for Warnell. Whitehall Forest is home to more than 100 species of native bees. The diverse habitats available create ample nesting opportunities and habitat for forest-specialist groups which are otherwise rarely found in urban areas.

Square Footage: 6,782,995 sq ft  Access Pollinator Garden GIS Data 

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