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Pre-Conference Activities - Oct 17
Before the October 2025 GMGA conference, Master Gardeners enjoyed a guided tour of the Wesleyan Arboretum. Tour participants were met by Dr. Jim Ferrari, Professor of Biology and Director of the Wesleyan College Arboretum along with student assistants. This huge Tulip Poplar was struck by lightning and is estimated to be 100 years old. It is the largest and oldest in the arboretum.
The fire ring was also an interesting item. If standing in the exact middle, the ring makes an echo chamber. The person in the middle is a GMGA member from Lula, GA. Our thanks go out to Mike and Gail Hogan for providing the pictures of the Arboretum.
Before the conference kicked into gear on Saturday, over thirty participants started their weekend of continuing education on Friday afternoon as they attended a pre-conference Therapeutic Gardening Activities Workshop hosted by the GA MEGV State Program Office, with support from UGA Department of Horticulture graduate students, Alana Edwards and Lydia Burton. The workshop explored the health benefits of working with plants for all ages and abilities and focused on the importance of adapting gardening activities for a wide range of audiences. Participants worked through different scenarios and discussed adaptive techniques and tools. They shared about their own experiences with their GA MGEV volunteer projects in their home counties and left the afternoon session with new ideas and tools in their toolkits for future programming. No pictures are available.
Friday was a very busy day as lots of volunteers were there to welcome the vendors and help them unload their products to Level 3 of the Conference Center. We had a variety of Georgia vendors participate in this year’s Conference, including the keynote speaker.
While they were unloading, the members of the Board and the local organization set up the Silent Auction room as donations arrived from the various organizations around the state. Each item was numbered and a starting bid assigned. Yes, a trip to Antigua was up for auction and someone took advantage of it. Hope they have a good trip!
The Friday night Meet and Greet was a Charcuterie in the hall of the Convention Center. People were able to view the Silent Auction items and visit the Vendors.
2025 Annual Conference- Oct 18
This year’s Conference was held at the Macon Marriott Convention Center. It was hosted by the GMGA Board with assistance of the local Central Georgia Master Gardener group. Since the event was so close to Halloween, most of the of the activites and decorations were centered around the theme, Gardening in Georgia, Trick or Treat?
Attendees were given a continental breakfast and viewed the multiple offerings for the Silent Auction prior to the beginning of the Conference. The Conference was opened by Stephen Taylor, President of the Georgia Master Gardeners Association, Inc. followed by a welcome to the UGA Griffin campus by Dr. Sheri Dorn, State Coordinator for the Georgia Master Gardener Extension Volunteer Program.
First item on the agenda was the 2025 GMGA ANR Award. This year’s award was presented to Lisa Klein of Gwinnett County. A full description with pictures can be found at GMGA website under the article 2025 Award of Excellence Given at GMGA Conference.
This was followed by an award for the best Master Gardener Project funded by a grant from GMGA in 2024. The committee reviewed each grant submission and final report to determine which one accomplished their goal and delivered the best project.
It was awarded to Phillp Hanes from the Athens Area Master Gardeners group. The project involved an expansion of the gardens at Reed Park in conjunction with Columbia County Parks and Rec. This was a continuation of an ongoing project by the AAMG organization.
Our first speaker of the day was Dr Carol Bokros, of Mercer University. Dr. Bokros is the current President of the Fringed Campion Chapter of the Native Plant Society. She is also the Director of Pre-Health Advising at Mercer University in Macon, GA. Her presentation was very entertaining concerning the use of native Georgia plants versus plants bought from a hot parking lot at a big box store. You can also “think outside the box” and explore joining the Native Plant Society or entertain collecting your own natives with your local group as part of a meadow project.
This was followed by a short break. Everyone could shop with vendors, look at the good stuff for sale in the silent auction, and view the posters for the People’s Choice Award. Each year the Extension Agents are offered a small monetary award by GMGA for the poster that is selected by the People’s Choice Award at the Conference. GMGA Members view the posters and vote during the break. The prize is awarded by Sheri and the GMGA President before the last speaker.
The second speaker, Dr. Heather Bowman Cutway, is also a Professor from Mercer University focused on Ecology and plant evolution. She was very involved with the removal of invasive species and restoration of native plants at the Ocmulgee National Monument. Recently she has focused on the Fringed campion species and how it has survived.
Lunch was an opportunity to view the posters and shop some more.
After the box lunch provided by the Marriott, the participants gathered again in the main room for a very different presentation. It was a real treat to listen to Dr. Laura Ney, UGA Extension from Athens, do a presentation on the value of bats in the ecosystem. Laura does many projects in conjunction with Trina Morris, Wildlife Biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society. Laura explained how bats basically fly using echolocation to “see” in total darkness. Bats are crucial for pollination (e.g., for bananas, tequila) and pest control, with some insect-eating species consuming thousands of insects nightly. Currently the bat population in the caves of North GA are in jeopardy due to white-nose syndrome. This is currently being addressed by the Georgia Dept of Natural Resources.
Following another break, our next speaker was Edward Morrow, an ISA Certified Arborist. Edward presented many scenarios that Master Gardeners will be confronted with as part of their position in serving the needs ot the community. Such example as, trees too close to the house, dead limbs, various disease scenarios, etc. His presentations were peppered with scenes from the S.T.A.R.S.super tree professionals who came to the rescue to assist under various conditions. He uses this as a recruiting tool in building his team of certified arborists. He answered many questions from the audience.
After the final break, there was an announcement of the door prize and the silent auction winners. This year was fortunate to have 2 trips as part of the silent auction. The one pictured to a resort in Antigua, and another in a villa in Tuscany. Both items sold. There were many very nice items donated from the Districts and from various individual Master Gardeners.
Results of the People’s Choice Award were also announced. Conference attendees joined in the fun by reviewing and voting for the posters, resulting in a People’s Choice winner. Results are presented at the following link https://www.georgiamastergardeners.org//news/poster-presentation-winner-2025-conference. The winner was Kim Toal from Fayette County. All of the posters and the review are listed at the link on the GMGA website.
The long awaited keynote speaker was last on the agenda. Jenks Farmer still lives on a rural farm in Beech Island, SC. His discussion was centered around Southern Gardening and natural landscaping. He gave a very casual and laid back presentation of how many years it had taken him and his partner to convert a large frontage area from a field of weeds into a meadow lined with daisies.
He stressed the value of natural landscaping versus rigid lines and also the errors that can be found on AI. He emphasized the value of training versus the use of the internet for answers, especially, the training provided by the Extension Offices in each state. He began his gardening day as a Master Gardener in the program in South Carolina and gives many talks to MG programs. His book sales and daisy sales were very strong.
GMGA would like to thank the Master Gardeners from the Central District and the Marriott Convention Center in Macon for their assistance with the 2025 Conference. We would especially like to thank Dawn Nash for coordinating this event and Dr. Jim Ferrari and his helpers for conducting the tour of the Wesleyan College Arboretum on Friday.