My wife and I drove down to Georgia for the weekend to visit our son Zach, who’s in grad school at the University of Georgia. He was a bit gimpy from back surgery a couple days earlier, but while his fiancee went to friends’ wedding we went to the State Botanical Garden. UGA is somewhat the center of the horticultural universe with Michael Dirr covering woody plants and Allan Armitage the perennial plant world.

My son is not in horticulture, but in a chemistry PhD program. Who knows where that came from? Undoubtedly his mother.

Our visit was brief as a thunderstorm was approaching, but we did a quick once over of the main areas, and I grabbed a couple shots to bring home. Georgia is about a month ahead of my northern Virginia garden, witnessed by blooming Oakleaf hydrangeas, whereas mine don’t have buds yet, Kousa dogwoods past peak bloom, and southern magnolias in flower, when mine is in tight bud.

The gardens feature an indoor tropical area and extensive outdoor theme areas, edible gardens, formal gardens, and so on.

Many of the plants found in this Georgia garden are also used in the landscapes of the mid-Atlantic region, and I have a good number in my garden.

Anyone serious about their garden should make a point to visit a local arboretum or public gardens to see mature specimens and to get design ideas for plant combinations.