Annual Meeting

 

The 41st Annual Meeting will be held in Gulf city of Mobile, Alabama March 7-9, 2025. Once called the Paris of the South, members of the Society will get a taste of magic  where a melting pot of people, flavors, cultures and traditions all become one voice in celebration of their 325-year history. It was here that the horticulture industry got its start so it is fitting that we pay it a visit.

Our headquarters will be the Battle House Hotel & Spa, 26 North Royal St. where we will hold our business meeting and all of the lectures. Lunch on Saturday will be served in the historic Crystal Room of the hotel.

Friday afternoon we will visit Bellingrath Gardens and Home with a special welcome reception served on the main terrace.  Walter Bellingrath, one of the first Coca-Cola bottlers in the Southeast, originally purchased the property in 1917 as a fishing lodge and he often referred to Bellingrath as “the charmed spot of the South.” His wife Bessie Bellingrath transformed the property into what is now Bellingrath Gardens and Home employing the services of noted architect George Bigelow Rogers to design both the house and gardens.

Friday evening will include a tour of the Maritime Museum and dinner on the third floor, overlooking Mobile Bay. Saturday you will enjoy hearing from a number of local speakers that will help tell the story of Mobile, the Bay and the Gulf Coast area. We will learn about the maritime and cultural history of Mobile, the ecological treasures of the Mobile and Tensaw Rivers that flow into Mobile Bay, the development and growth of the nursery industry in southern Alabama, the special work by several noted nurserymen to develop Camelia and Azaleas suited for the south, and the origin of Mardi Gras in America.

Saturday afternoon we will visit a number of  private and public gardens in the downtown Mobile area. That evening we will dine in the venerable and historic private club, Althestan.

Sunday’s optional tour will include a curated tour of the Mobile Botanic Gardens, a special visit to one of those early nurseries and a very special private garden belonging to a member of our host committee, Tom McGehee and his wife.

Our meeting has a maximum capacity of 165, so please register soon to reserve your place. Registration is available online or by mail.  Please note that if you wish to submit your registration by mail, you may print the PDF version here. The event brochure and registration form can be mailed to you upon request.

Registration is currently open to only members at the Sustainer, Patron, or Benefactor level.  Please note that registration will be open to all members on December 8th, 2024.  When we reach capacity, a waiting list will be available online.  See below for the event address and accommodations information.

If you have any questions, please contact our SGHS Administrator and Event Registrar, Aimee B. Moreau at 318-421-9144.

Friday, March 7

9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Conference Registration
Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel and Spa

12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Welcome and Introductions
Battle House Hotel and Spa Moonlight Room A & B

Brief Business Meeting

Lost Gardens of Mobile and A Brief Introduction to Mobile and Bellingrath by Tom McGehee, Historian and Curator, Bellingrath Gardens and Home

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Coach to Bellingrath Gardens and Home for tour and refreshments.

6:30 pm
Coach to The National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico. Tour of the Museum, Cocktails, Dinner, and lecture.

Mobile and Havana: Sisters Across the Gulf: An overview in word and image of the deep cultural ties shared by these two exotic port cities by John Sledge, Architectural Historian, City of Mobile and Author of The Gulf of Mexica: A Maritime History, The Mobile River and many other books.

Saturday, March 8

8:30 am – 1:30 pm
Battle House Renaissance Hotel and Spa: Moonlight Room A & B

Bellingrath: Moving a Near-Century-Old Organization Into the Future by F. Todd Lasseigne, Ph.D, Executive Director, Bellingrath

America’s Amazon – Welcome to the Cradle of American Biodiversity by Ben Raines, Environmental Fellow, Writer and Filmaker in Residence, University of South Alabama, School of Marine and Environmental Sciences and the Department of English.

Lacy Iron Galleries and Rocking Paper Mache Floats: Architectural and Carnival Histories of Mobile by Cartledge W. Blackwell III, Architectural historian and curator of the Mobile Carnival Museum.

Kosaku Sawada and the Reinvention of The Camellia: How a Japanese Immigrant Won the Hearts and Minds of the American South by Bobby Green, retired nurseryman and noted Camellia expert.

Shadows of Giants- a History of the Nursery Industry in Mobile County by Maarten Van Der Giessen, Owner, Van Der Giessen Nursery, and noted azalea expert.

Lunch in the historic Crystal Room of the Battle House Renaissance Hotel & Spa

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Buses will transport guests to three historic districts of the city for tours of private gardens and public plazas

6:00 pm
Stroll to the historic Athelstan Club, c. 1875, for dinner and drinks

Sunday, March 9

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Buses will transport guests to the following:
Exclusive visit to one of the region’s most important nurseries
Mobile Botanic Garden, lunch and tour with MBG Curator Seth Allen
Private garden of Bellingrath Curator Tom McGehee and his wife Ceil

Accommodations and Transportation

Battle House Renaissance Hotel & Spa
26 North Royal Street
Mobile Alabama 36602

Call 1-(800) 468-3571 for Reservations & mention Southern Garden History Society for special pricing from now until Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.  Reservations can also be made online here.

Airline Flights and Rental Cars
Mobile International Airport

Past Annual Meetings

2024 Annual Meeting at Wilmington, North Carolina

For information about scholarships/fellowships/grants to attend the SGHS annual meeting, click here.

 

2024 Wilmington, North Carolina
2023 Natchitoches, Louisiana
2022 Mount Vernon, Virginia
2019 Birmingham, Alabama
2018 Jacksonville, Florida
2017 Lexington, Kentucky (Photo Gallery) (history of the James farm)
2016 Charleston, South Carolina (Photo Gallery)
2015 Nashville, Tennessee
2014 Savannah, Georgia
2013 Lynchburg, Virginia
2012 Richmond, Virginia
2011 Baton Rouge, Louisiana
2010 Mount Vernon, Virginia
2009 Camden, South Carolina
2008 Athens, Georgia
2007 Annapolis, Maryland
2006 Fort Worth, Texas
2005 Fredericksburg, Virginia
2004 New Orleans, Louisiana
2003 Atlanta, Georgia
2002 Natchez, Mississippi
2001 Tryon Palace, New Bern, North Carolina
2000 Mount Vernon, Virginia
1999 Houston, Texas
1998 Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina
1997 Tallahassee, Florida
1996 Eastern Shore, Maryland
1995 Mobile, Alabama
1994 Williamsburg, Virginia
1993 Washington/Fayette Counties, Texas
1992 Charleston, South Carolina
1991 St. Francisville, Louisiana
1990 Mount Vernon, Virginia
1989 Savannah, Georgia
1988 Nashville, Tennessee
1987 Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia
1986 Montgomery, Alabama
1985 Annapolis, Maryland
1984 Natchez, Mississippi
1983 Atlanta, Georgia

 

Southern Garden History Society Scholarships

For information about scholarships/fellowships/grants to attend the SGHS annual meeting, click here.