Research Projects:
ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDEN
Officially incorporated in 1976 on land belonging to the City of Atlanta in Piedmont Park (the city's largest communal park), the Garden's mission is to develop and maintain plant collections for the purposes of display, education, conservation, research and enjoyment. ABG is a private, non-profit botanical garden and the outdoor collections offer botanists, horticulturists, and the general public a series of formal and informal landscapes to explore.
The centerpiece of the Garden is the Dorothy Fuqua Chapman Conservatory. Opened to the public in 1989, the Conservatory covers 16,000 square feet including a tropical Rotunda, desert house, special exhibit area and Orangery. Serviced by backup greenhouses covering 10,000 sq. feet, the collections focus on under-represented and endangered plant groups. They include Old World desert collections, Old World island palms that follow an island biogeographical theme, and other conservation collections including tropical conifers, orchids, cycads and carnivorous plants. ABG also houses a collection of poison dart frogs that are on public display, with interpretive signage, in the Conservatory lobby.
The Fuqua Orchid Center is the newest expansion to the already phenomenal glasshouse facilities of the Atlanta Botanical Garden. The addition to the Fuqua Conservatory includes not only one of the most state-of-the-art orchid facilities in the country but also the Center for Conservation and Education. The Center contains the Georgia Pacific Classroom, Orchid Reference Library, Conservation Greenhouse, and Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory.
ABG's Conservation Program encompasses a number of regional and international projects and is based on a hands-on and project-driven approach. The key to this program has been to work directly with local landowners to bring as many of the relevant agencies, botanical institutes, and organizations into collaboration, and to disseminate the staff's horticultural and botanical expertise to as wide a field as possible. One of its major goals is to develop successful restoration and recovery techniques for the protection of rare plant species and their habitats. Projects include:
Monitoring, management and restoration of endangered bog communities
ABG conducts many projects in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and other GPCA members, and is under contract to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to assist in the recovery of several endangered carnivorous plant species. ABG is, at present, focusing on the recovery of the three Federally Endangered pitcher plant species, Sarracenia rubra spp. jonesii (Mountain Sweet pitcher plant) in North and South Carolina, S. oreophila (Green pitcher plant) in Georgia and Alabama, and S. rubra ssp. alabamensis (Alabama Canebrake pitcher plant) in Alabama.
Rare and endangered plant species recovery
In addition to the work with bog habitats, the Atlanta Botanical Garden is involved in the recovery of many other rare plant species that occur within the southeastern United States. These projects are carried out in collaboration with government agencies, conservation organizations and private landowners. Some of the federally listed species under cultivation include Schwalbea americana, Geum radiatum, Liatris helleri, Hedyotis purpurea var. montana, Solidago spithamaea, Helonias bullata, and Torreya taxifolia.
GPCA
As a charter member, ABG plays a major role in many GPCA projects, including the recovery of endangered plant species such as Torreya taxifolia and Elliottia racemosa and restoration of rare mountain bog communities.
Tissue Culture Laboratory
ABG's new tissue culture laboratory propagates rare and endangered native and non-native plant species. One of the primary objectives of the lab is to assist in the research, propagation and recovery of some of our native terrestrial orchids. These include plants such as Platanthera integrilabia (Monkey-Face Orchid), a number of Calapogon species (the Grass Pinks), and Cypripedium kentuckiense. The lab also raises funds for the Conservation Program through the development and propagation of unusual and horticulturally interesting plant forms and cultivars.
International Intern Program
ABG's intern program was established to facilitate the exchange of ideas, expertise and plant collections between botanical gardens and organizations. ABG has sponsored a number of interns from China, U.K., Sabah, Ecuador, and Brazil.
Maquipucuna Foundation
In 1994, ABG began collaborating with the Maquipucuna Foundation in Ecuador to exchange horticultural knowledge between ABG and the Foundation's staff, and mutually assist each other on the development of plant collections and conservation projects.
Upper picture: Cat Hartman, ABG's Curator of Conservation Collections
Lower picture: Ron Determann and Madeleine Groves working with Elliottia