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Sowing Seeds of Knowledge

Reaps Conservation with

Beauty

Environmental Edition, Mary Lovings, Editor

Landscape Design Edition, Dr. John Barnett, Editor

Horticulture Edition, Gail Berthe, Editor

Volume III, Issue Number 12 Landscape Design Edition April, 2017

The Garden Club of Georgia, Inc.

Beautification … Conservation … Education

COMMENTS FROM THE EDITOR

Well, the past two years have gone by us way too soon! It has been a pleasure and joy to be the

editor for Landscape Design Newsletter. I have enjoyed working with Gail Berthe and Mary

Lovings in setting our goals, newsletter template, and complimenting each other on our individual

newsletters on environmental, horticulture and landscape design studies.

This issue of Landscape Design is my last newsletter as I pursue a very different avenue with Garden Club of

Georgia. As most all of you know by now, I have been honored by being nominated as the Laurel District

Director for 2017 – 2019. I am so privileged to lead Laurels of Light with my co-director, Marie Purser. If

you didn’t know, I will be the very FIRST male District Director in Laurel District, and, as far as we know, in

the state of Georgia (Garden Club of Georgia). I would like to thank the nominating committee for having the

confidence in me to lead Laurel District. I covet your prayers always, but especially during the next

administration.

I do not know who the next Landscape Design editor will be but I wish the best for the editor. I ask you to

please be as supportive and complimentary to the next editor as you have been to this editor. I know you will!

I have appreciated the contact that you have given this editor during the past administration.

We have ‘traveled’ from North Georgia, East and West and South Georgia with many gardens and mansions

that we have ‘visited’ in Landscape Design Newsletter. This editor hopes that you have learned a lot about

places to visit, as well as landscape in gardens and maybe you have incorporated some of these ideas in your

own garden.

This editor looks farward to reading our newsletters during the 2017 – 2019 administration. This editor

always would like to wish each of you the very best in your individual families, gardens and garden clubs

across our state.

This editor thought it would be a nice finale to ‘visit’ other Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites in this final

2015 – 2017 newsletter. We can’t ‘visit’ all of the ones left due to space but we will ‘visit’ as many as we

can. Have fun and let’s landscape our gardens with designs we have seen.

May God richly bless you always.

Dr. John Barnett, Landscape Design Editor

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This pretty park west of Augusta, A. H. Stephens State Park and Historic Home, is best known for its

equestrian facilities, Confederate museum and lakeside group camp. Horseback riders can explore 21 miles of

trails and stay overnight in their own campground. Overnight guests can choose from lakeside cottages or a

modern campground, while large groups can enjoy privacy in the park’s group camp or pioneer campground.

Historic Home and Monument Historic Home Exterior Historic Home and Gravesite

Historic Home and Museum

Chief Vann House Historic Site and Gardens: During the 1790s, James Vann became a Cherokee Indian leader

and wealthy businessman. He established the largest and most prosperous plantation in the Cherokee Nation,

covering 1,000 acres of what is now Murray County. In 1804 he completed construction of a beautiful 2 ½-story

brick home that was the most elegant in the Cherokee Nation. After Vann was murdered in 1809, his son Joseph

inherited the mansion and plantation. Joseph was also a Cherokee leader and became even more wealthy than his

father. In the 1830s almost the entire Cherokee Nation was forced west by state and federal troops on the infamous

Trail of Tears. The Vann family lost their elegant home, rebuilding in the Cherokee Territory of Oklahoma. Today

the Vann House survives as Georgia’s best-preserved historic Cherokee Indian home.

Historic Home Exterior Outdoor Amphitheater Students enjoy Learning Old Ways

Cabin Ruins

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This is the oldest English fort remaining on Georgia's coast. From 1721 until 1736, Fort King George was

the southern outpost of the British Empire in North America. A cypress blockhouse, barracks and palisaded

earthen fort were constructed in 1721 by scoutmen led by Colonel John “Tuscarora Jack” Barnwell. For the

next seven years, His Majesty’s Independent Company garrisoned the fort. They endured incredible hardships

from disease, threats of Spanish and Indian attacks, and the harsh, unfamiliar coastal environment. After the

fort was abandoned, General James Oglethorpe brought Scottish Highlanders to the site in 1736. The

settlement, called Darien, eventually became a foremost export center of lumber until 1925.

Fort King George Landscape at Fort View of Fort from River

Indian Dwelling

Robert Toombs House Historic Site: A legend in his own time, Robert Toombs was a successful planter and

lawyer who led a turbulent career as state legislator, U.S. Congressman and Senator. “Defend yourselves; the

enemy is at your door...!” thundered Toombs from the Senate floor on January 24, 1860. The following year,

Georgia seceded from the Union and Toombs personified the South by evolving from conservative Unionist to fire-

breathing secessionist. After serving just five months as Confederate Secretary of State, he resigned to serve as

brigadier general in the Army of Northern Virginia. In 1870, as the Reconstruction Era drew to a close in Georgia,

Toombs felt that Georgia should live under a constitution of her own making. His last service to Georgia citizens

was helping create the Constitution of 1877, which was not amended until 1945.

Robert Tooombs House Gardens at the Gazebo View of Gardens from Balcony

Back of House with Landscape

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A breathtaking avenue sheltered by live oaks and Spanish moss leads to the tabby ruins of Wormsloe, the colonial

estate of Noble Jones (1702–1775). Jones was a humble carpenter who arrived in Georgia in 1733 with James

Oglethorpe and the first group of settlers from England. Wormsloe's tabby ruin is the oldest standing structure in

Savannah. Surviving hunger, plague and warfare in the rugged environment of Georgia, Jones went on to serve the

colony as a doctor, constable, Indian agent, Royal Councilor and surveyor, laying out the towns of Augusta and

New Ebenezer. He also commanded a company of marines charged with defending the Georgia coast from the

Spanish. Jones died at the beginning of the American Revolution, but his descendants sustained Wormsloe until the

state of Georgia acquired most of the plantation in 1973.

Tabby Ruins Oak lined Drive Live Red Cedar

Marsh View

Franklin Delano Roosevelt built the Little White House in 1932 while governor of New York, prior to being

inaugurated as president in 1933. He first came to Warm Springs in 1924 hoping to find a cure for the infantile

paralysis (polio) that had struck him in 1921. Swimming in the 88-degree, buoyant spring waters brought him no

miracle cure, but it did bring improvement.

The Little White House Landscaped with Fountains Trees on the Property

Walk of Flags

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Reynolds Mansion on Sapelo Island: This small barrier island is a unique destination along Georgia's famed

Colonial Coast. Sapelo Island is rich cultural history, coastal wildlife, and complex beach and dunes systems. The

island is an 11-mile-long island that highlights African-American community of Hog Hammock, Reynolds

Mansion, Nanny Goat Beach, University of Georgia Marine Institute and a restored 1820 lighthouse. The unusual

and lovely Reynolds Mansion features marble sculptures, an ornately decorated Circus Room, murals by Athos

Menaboni, a bowling lane, billiards, library and more. Cabretta Campground is sheltered by live oaks and is just a

short walk to the beach.

Reynolds Mansion Restored Lighhouse Landscape Entrance of Mansion

Island Sunrise

Traveler’s Rest Historic Site: This stagecoach inn and plantation home was built around 1815 by James R. Wyly.

He strategically located it along the newly constructed Unicoi Turnpike, a busy highway over the Appalachian

Mountains. Wyly operated the inn until 1833 when he sold it to his neighbor Devereaux Jarrett, the "richest man in

the Tugaloo Valley." Jarrett continued to operate the inn, but dou