Smith-Gilbert Gardens
Smith Gilbert Gardens

Smith Gilbert Gardens Blog

Water on the Brain

By Dr. Robert Gilbert

I spent the first five years of my life living outside the city limits of Dayton, Ohio, in my grandparents’ fishing cabin on the Stillwater River. Every one of my mother’s brothers and sisters lived there before us when first married. My mother, the youngest, was the last. Each successive sibling improved the small house. As a child, my mother and her entire family would spend the summers there. A tennis court was installed to keep her two brothers and two sisters entertained. Read the rest of this entry »

Staff “Pick”- Coffin Tree

Coffin Tree

Coffin Tree

By Shon Cameron, SGG Head Gardener

On your next visit to the garden come view our Coffin Tree.  It doesn’t have pretty flowers or a heavenly scent like some of our other trees.  What is does have is a very fascinating history and has been used to make incredible works of art for centuries. Taiwania cryptomeriodes is the Latin name of the Coffin Tree and is part of the Cupressaccae family.  It has some very large kin, including the Giant Sequoias of California. Read the rest of this entry »

Birds of SGG – Carolina Wren

Carolina Wren

It was another beautiful, sunny, winter day at SGG on Jan.5, 2012, as I looked for the bird of the month. I was walking on the conifer garden path nearest the entrance driveway. While the gardens have so many beautiful areas, I think I like the conifer section best. The symmetry of conifers makes me smile. The tall ones are majestic while the smaller ones conjure up happy holiday memories. I’m not sure whether I bought my present home because of its style or because of the regal bald cypress in the front yard. Read the rest of this entry »

Calling All Docents!

Smith-Gilbert Gardens could not get along without the wonderful assistance of our trained Docents. Our Docents are the people that conduct the many guided tours of the Garden that we have during peak season. Read the rest of this entry »

Volunteers of Note – Sarah Mansfield & Graham Gold

Sarah Mansfield

Sarah Mansfield is one of our most dependable Docents, always willing to pitch in wherever assistance is needed.  Her latest job is looking after the Hummingbird feeders. In addition, Sarah frequently works in the Hiram Butler House, helps with the Children’s Programs and conducts tours of the Garden.

Sarah was born a Tennessee girl but came to Cobb County at an early age and graduated from Osborne High School. Sarah received her B. S. from UGA, and then taught elementary school in Gwinnett County. She has also worked in the insurance industry as a Certified GA. Life, Accident and Sickness Insurance Agent. In addition to all that, she is certified to teach Conversational English to Adult Internationals.

Sarah is married to Dan (for 44 yrs.), is the mother of two adult children, and in her own words is “waiting patiently for grandchildren.”  Sarah has lots of varied interests including gardening, reading, travel, painting, cooking and following GA Tech sports (she’s forced to as hubby, daughter and son-in- law are all Tech grads. Poor thing!) Sarah is a joy to be around and a real asset to Smith-Gilbert Gardens.

Graham Gold

Graham Gold, our decorator extraordinaire is another of our Volunteers of Note.

Graham was born in London England in the late 1940’s moved to the States as an adult and became a citizen about 20 years ago.  Graham majored in Residential and commercial Design. He studied at the New York School of Interior Design, The Art Institute and at Kennesaw University.

Graham ran his own business in New York for many years and was the Head Designer for close to 10 years for a major corporation here in Atlanta. Graham is now retired and enjoys his volunteer time here at Smith-Gilbert assisting with the Monday Morning Work Group, the Gift Shop and other SGG decorating challenges.

Graham has been married to wife Joann for 37 years, and has two grown children and two grandchildren.

It is a real treat to have Graham and his quick wit with us here at the Garden. We especially appreciate him giving his time and extraordinary talent to decorate the Hiram-Butler House for the Christmas season.

Birds of SGG

American Crow

by Pat Pepper

I do realize that choosing a crow for the bird of the month in a garden publication is risky. After all, that’s not a scarerobin propped up next to the fence around the SGG vegetable garden.

When I decided to highlight one bird for this column, I had to choose a qualifying factor. I decided to cast away any personal bird prejudices, either for or against a particular species. My qualifier would be a bird that had best captured my interest or imagination while walking around the garden. Read the rest of this entry »

Volunteering at Smith-Gilbert

Nonprofit organizations could not exist without a good group of volunteers. Smith-Gilbert Garden is no different in its need for assistance.

Volunteers are free to work any schedule they desire–one afternoon or morning a week, just one Saturday a month, or Sunday afternoons. If you can’t commit to a specific schedule we always need extra help for special events. The Garden provides training and excellent benefits for our volunteer friends. You will receive a discount on all purchases in the Gift Shop, unlimited access to the Garden, and a special treat in the form of field trips and Volunteer appreciation functions during the year. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to our newest Staff member – Carrie Camden

While she holds the official title of Receptionist, our newest employee Carrie Camden is really a “Jane of All Trades”. She spent most of her career in higher education at Bluefield College in Bluefield, Virginia. Carrie comes to us as a recent transplant from Statesboro, Georgia where she was the Executive Assistant to the City Manager, Human Resources Director and City Attorney. She holds degrees in Business and Fine Arts and is on her way to a Masters of Business Administration.  Carrie’s expertise will help us on many fronts, especially grant writing and data management. Read the rest of this entry »

Staff’s “Pick”

by Shon D. Cameron, SGG Gardener

As one of the newest staff members here at the Gardens, I had the privilege of picking a plant for this section of the newsletter. My choice, Ilex cornuta D’Or, commonly known as the D’Or Holly,  is part of the Aquifoliacae family and related to the ‘Burfordii’ holly.  It has blocky oval, shiny dark green leaves with a sharp spine on the tip.  White flowers bloom in the spring and decorative bright yellow berries in the fall through winter.  It boasts a large frame – 10 to 15 feet tall and just as wide.   Read the rest of this entry »

Volunteers Ate, Drank and Were Merry!

By Susan Schroeder, SGG Director of Operations

I’m embarrassed to say I was having so much fun at Smith-Gilbert Gardens’ volunteer appreciation dinner that I FORGOT to take any photos! Around 75 volunteers, staff and City Council members filled the Hiram Butler House.  The always delightful Jim Parks arranged a warm welcome by lining the driveway with luminaries.  The extraordinarily talented Graham Gold decorated all the mantels and our 10-foot tall Christmas tree.  All the decorations used by Graham were cuttings taken by Doug Davis and Shon Cameron from the Garden.  Our resident artist and former flower shop owner, Lynn Vanderhoff, rounded out the decorations with floral pieces on all the tables. Read the rest of this entry »

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