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Plant society to meet next week

The Georgia Native Plant Society’s bimonthly meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Day Hall, 1345 Piedmont Avenue. The public is invited to attend.

David Mellard, Ph.D. will speak on “Trillium for the Garden.” He will show slides of Trillium from his own extensive collection, talk about their habitat, and describe their cultural needs in the garden.

The July meeting will overlap the Chihuly exhibit at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Please plan to arrive early to insure a parking space, and to view the exhibit. For further information, call 770-343-6000, or check for details at www.gnps.org.

Many native plant enthusiasts know Dr. Mellard because of his work rescuing Cypripedium acaule, the pink lady’s slipper orchid. You may be surprised to learn that he also has one of the most extensive Trillium collections in the United States.

His passion for Trillium began about 6 years ago. At that time, he served as a guide for two English gentlemen on their tour throughout the Southeast gathering Trillium for the UK’s national collection. They drove as far as Texas, where T. gracile and pusillum v. texanum are found. Along the way, they saw ludovicianum, foetidissimum, underwoodii, maculatum, and decepiens, to name a few of the 30 something Trillium species.

When not pursuing his passion for plants, Dr. Mellard investigates hazardous waste sites as a toxicologist with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. This federal health agency in the Department of Health and Human Services was created in the 1980s to look at the impact that hazardous waste sites might be having on people living near them.

The Georgia Native Plant Society was founded in 1994 as a nonprofit, charitable, and educational organization. Our goal is to know native plants and to make them known to others. GNPS activities are designed to promote the conservation of Georgia's native plants and habitats through education, research and the relocation of plants threatened with destruction. To grow a plant is to know it; therefore, we encourage the appropriate use of native plants in gardens and in landscape. Additional information may be found at www.gnps.org.