The Southern Garden History Society is a group of enthusiasts and professionals that fosters and shares scholarly research about our historic gardens, cultural landscapes, and horticultural history through educational programs and publications. We celebrate the beauty and diversity of the South’s historic gardens and encourage their preservation and restoration so they may enrich the lives of others.
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From Texas to Maryland: Our Southern Garden Odyssey
Over the decades since our founding in 1982, SGHS members have visited scores of landscapes and gardens covering a wide expanse of the southern United States, ranging from Texas to Maryland, Florida to Kentucky and all in between. Some spots have been small and intimate, while others are recognized as internationally important. We are creating and populating a Gardens page as a means of recalling those gardens and their significance with those who joined in, as well as with Society members who were absent. As well, some gardens may be those not yet toured but which we hope very much to add to a future itinerary. An additional goal is that any visitor to our website, member or not, will find these verbal sketches, images, links, and book recommendations a welcome boost to their understanding of the richly vibrant garden history of the American South.
Ashland | Lexington, Kentucky
Deemed “the Great Compromiser,” Henry Clay stands high in the pantheon of prominent Antebellum American political leaders. In 2017, Society members visited his homeplace, Ashland, during … Read More
Magnolia Summer 2024 (VOL XXXVI, No. 3)
From the earliest colonial times apples have been crucial to the diet of southerners, whether as cider, cooked up in solid versions, or just eaten as … Read More
Renewal Letter from Board President, Derek Wade
Dear Member, Summertime, summertime, summertime. One of the best times of year! Our springtime gardening work is done, new beds were designed and laid out, selections … Read More
Jane Baber White—A Remembrance
Jane Baber White died on June 17, 2024, at the age of eighty-four. Her obituary describes her as a “pioneer, innovator, activist, and community bridge-builder.” Southern … Read More
Gordon Chappell Named Honorary Member of Garden Club of Virginia
At its annual meeting in Charlottesville, May 23, 2024, the Garden Club of Virginia bestowed an honorary membership on SGHS honorary board member and landscape architect … Read More
Spring 2024 Magnolia (Vol. XXXVI, No. 2)
Our spring 2024 issue opens with an overview by William Bartram scholar Brad Sanders of some of the Philadelphia. explorer’s eighteenth-century botanical discoveries. As the reader … Read More
More articles can be found in our ARCHIVES