Every door prize at this virtual garden conference is a winner – and many are worth more than the registration fee.

Connie Cottingham • October 21, 2020

This week I wrote the descriptions for over a dozen door prizes offered as part of the virtual 2020 Georgia Master Gardener Association Conference. This conference includes home garden tours led by Allan Armitage, Mike Dirr and Coach Vince Dooley, plus six live garden talks. Click here for registration and more information about the conference  Anyone can attend. Please share with your gardening friends. This conference would be especially interesting to Southeastern U.S. gardeners.

Back to the door prizes… It seemed rather dry to just add promo copy to the descriptions, so I decided to share why I wanted to win each prize (except the books – they are great, but already in our library!), and link to more information and purchase opportunities (because we can each win only one at best.)

Herbaceous Perennial Plants, 4th Edition , by Allan Armitage (signed!)

Value:                 $80

One thousand plus pages of information about perennials, hot off the press with current and tried-and-true varieties and cultivars, at your fingertips. Beware though – you will find yourself looking up a particular plant then lost in the engaging text for a while. Here is a recent review I wrote about this book.

Gardening with Grains , by Brie Arthur (signed!), plus two seed packets

Value:                 $36

Perfect timing! Grains are cool-season… hmmm…  crops? ornamentals? BOTH! Learn more with her new book and two packets of wheat seeds – Soft White and Bronze Chief.

 

The Foodscape Revolution , by Brie Arthur (signed!), plus two seed packets

Value:                 $34

Brie is such an energetic and inspiring speaker that you want to know more about Foodscaping – and you will with her first book. Two packets of Brie’s Soft White wheat seeds will get you out into the garden to plant.

Donated by Brie Arthur.

Seven Steps to an Organic Garden , by Mike Cunningham

Value:                 $15

Mike and Judy Cunningham, “The Teaching Farmers”, and their family run a 150-acre farm and CSA with vegetables that are Certified Naturally Grown. Taking a class at their Newnan Farm to learn about cooking, gardening or food preservation is on my bucket list, so I watch their Facebook page to find out when the classes will start again post-COVID.

Hydrangeas for American Gardens , by Michael A. Dirr (signed!)

Value:                 $45

More info/buy:   https://tinyurl.com/y3k3797v

Hydrangeas are signature Southern plants. A Hydrangea collection can include sun and shade plants, native and exotic plants, blooms from spring to fall, plus amazing fall color and winter bark. With this book you can learn more about the hydrangeas in your garden and make plans to expand your collection.

Donated by Mike Dirr.

Manual of Woody Landscape Plants , by Michael Dirr (signed!)

Value:                 $82

Who knows more about woody plants than Mike Dirr? A virtual tour of his garden and his signed iconic reference on your shelf – Score!

Donated by Mike Dirr.

Dooley’s Playbook: The 34 Most Memorable Plays in Georgia Football History , by Vince Dooley (signed!)

Value:                 $35

Southerners love football and Georgia fans love Vince Dooley. Vince will be touring us through his home garden as part of this virtual conference. Did you know he is quite the gardener, with a hydrangea named for him? You want this SIGNED book because, although it is his most recent of many books, it is already sold out.

Donated by Vince Dooley.

Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia , by Linda Chafin

Value:                 $33

Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia and Surrounding States is the first field guide devoted exclusively to Georgia’s wildflowers, while also including many plants found in neighboring states. This is a great reference to identify plants or learn more about native plants to add to your landscape.

Clematis Abilene

Value:                 $29

Clematis Abilene has rich, pink two-tone blooms. The flowers are up to 6 inches across and very full at maturity, but the plant remains compact and suited to smaller spaces and container culture.

Brushwood Nursery is known nationwide for their Clematis and consistently in the Top 5 in their category at The Garden Watchdog.

Donated by Dan Long, Brushwood Nursery.

Antique Glass Garden Art

Value:                 $50

These hand-crafted flowers are created from antique glassware, each one a unique design. The winner will have a glass flower shipped to them with instructions on purchasing a metal support locally to install it at just the right height for their garden.

Donated by Carol Martinese.

45-Minute Online Landscape Consultation

Value:                 $80

Cliff Brock was the curator of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia’s flower garden before spending a year in Oregon and then returning to Newnan, GA. Cliff knows plants so very well and, like many gardeners, has many talents. He is also a composer and pianist, as well as a writer and photographer ( check out his blog here.) A 45-minute virtual consultation, offering design ideas and giving plant maintenance advice – well, that would be amazing.

Donated by Cliff Brock.

Encore Azaleas Gift Certificate

Value:                 $40

Encore® Azaleas are the bestselling multi-season blooming azalea in the world with over 30 varieties. Won’t it be fun to add a few to your garden?

Donated by Flowerwood Nursery.

Southern Living Plant Collection Gift Certificate

Value:                 $40

The Southern Living Plant Collection by Flowerwood Nursery includes over 60 varieties of trees, shrubs, bulbs, annuals, perennials, and ornamental grasses. You will have fun with this gift certificate!

Donated by Flowerwood Nursery.

Loves Notes from the Garden

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I haven't planted tall phlox in years.

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One beautiful plant at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden made me rethink that.

These, sweet, pink romantic roses laugh at heat and drought

By Connie Cottingham • September 15, 2026
Thanksgiving week 2024: a fun, memorable family gathering that lasted for days in my niece’s new home in Atlanta. Still, I took the opportunity to hide in the guest bedroom for a moment because I had promised myself I would unapologetically find a treasure among the many Black Friday sales. And what to my wondering eyes should appear? Roses! The treasure I found was four own-root roses from Heirloom Roses . Not electronics. Not fashion. Roses. Yeah, surprised me too. I recently wrote about the New Dawn rose that has now reached the top of my backyard arbor. The other three were planted closely together until I could build and fill more raised beds. Then numerous peonies came into my life, a few refugees from other beds had to be moved and, well, these three roses are still in the same spot and way too close together. That won’t change anytime soon.  What also doesn’t seem likely to change is this insufferable heat and drought. Ten inches of rain in June, none since. Temperatures linger in the 90s and triple digits, and the forecast stays hot and dry through August 23

Magical Times I Had a Public Garden (Practically) to Myself

By Connie Cottingham • September 9, 2026
There is something slightly thrilling about standing in a world-famous garden and realizing that, for the moment, nobody else seems to be there. Public gardens are meant to be public. I love seeing people enjoying them, especially children encountering a garden for the first time. The more people who experience gardens and nature, the better. But every once in a while, through luck, timing or a little audacity, I have found myself practically alone in one.  Those quiet hours remain among my most magical travel memories

Dad and the Scientist: a botanical garden visit that changed the way I saw expertise.

By Connie Cottingham • August 24, 2026
The photo is from the 2024 exhibit "Exquisite Creatures" at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR.

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George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, Missouri

Don’t wait until June to visit Crystal Bridges – Visit Now.

By Connie Cottingham • February 26, 2026
Everyone is talking about the grand reopening in June. More space. More galleries. More excitement. But waiting means missing something special. Here are eight reasons why I think now is one of the best times to visit Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. It’s free – which expands your freedom. Yes, parking and admission here are always free. That’s easy to take for granted since most Bentonville area museums do not charge admission. But that free admission means you don’t have to think about your budget and time in the same way as if you were paying a $20-40 entry fee. You can stop in to join a tour or fill time between appointments by visiting one gallery.
Greeting card: Pineapple art print and portrait of woman with text.

Maria Sibylla Merian at Philbrook Museum: A Botanical Illustrator Worth the Trip to Tulsa

By Connie Cottingham • February 22, 2026
An exhibit on Maria Sibylla Merian is currently on display at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Drawn from a private collection, the works are well worth seeing. So is Philbrook itself—a 1920s historic estate built during Tulsa’s oil boom and now home to a museum surrounded by beautiful gardens. Art, architecture, and gardens together in one place? Definitely my jam. Who is Maria Sibylla Merian? Well, if anyone asks me who my favorite artist is, who is one of my sheroes, it’s Merian. She was a botanical illustrator, scientist, explorer. She was also fearless, curious, groundbreaking, and well-traveled. She was a single mother. She was open to other cultures and deduced her own opinions. She sold everything and brought her daughter with her to another continent at age 52. Oh, and she lived from 1647 to 1717.
Bay laurel plant in a black pot, with green leaves, and a plant tag.

A Bay Tree on the Windowsill

By Connie Cottingham • February 22, 2026
“Add a couple bay leaves,” suggested a friend. I had been moaning that I had looked everywhere I could think and could not find Bruce’s pinto bean recipe. Soak the beans overnight, add onions, ham, cumin, salt, and pepper into the Crock Pot. I found a similar, delicious recipe, but it was not the recipe. And Bruce’s recipe did not include bay leaves. But Kris said every bean recipe should have a bay leaf. And there is a bay tree on my windowsill. OK—at about 14 inches tall, tree may be a bit of an exaggeration. Bay leaves are commonly used in Mediterranean, French, and Spanish cooking, adding a subtle, savory flavor. Bay is also traditionally recommended to help with upset tummies, flatulence, and digestion. Ah—so that is why you toss bay into pots of beans. I hadn’t heard that before. Nor did I know bay leaves are sometimes boiled into custards.  During my snowed-in week, I made two pots of soup and a pot of beans, snapping off a leaf or two of bay and harvesting from the vase of sage and rosemary for the soups. My bay has adjusted well to indoor life and has plenty of leaves to share. Fresh bay leaves are a bit stronger than dried—one book describes the fresh flavor as “more eucalyptus-y.” I’ve always thought of bay as very mild. Although they are evergreen trees in the Mediterranean, bay (Laurus nobilis) takes well to pruning and can be grown in a container. I plan to keep mine a manageable two feet tall and happily invite it into my kitchen every winter. If you see a bay plant, I recommend buying one. None of my books recommend growing them from seed, and it can take a year or more to grow one from a cutting.

6 reasons to start your vacation at the local visitor center

By Connie Cottingham • October 1, 2025
1. The locals know which destinations suit your interests The people who work and volunteer are proud of their town and happy to have you discover all it has to offer. Once you start talking, they will light up as they give suggestions on what would interest you. Yes, there may be an abundance of breweries in an area, but a visitor center singled out the one that was also a cut flower farm to me. 2. Free parking while you get your bearings It takes a moment to figure out what is what in a new town. Many visitor centers offer free parking while you plan your visit with helpful staff and volunteers. 3. Restrooms and coffee ... welcome finds on a road trip. 4. Warnings and options When I mentioned that I wanted to experience the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way home in the Hendersonville (NC) Welcome Center, they warned me that weather had shut a segment down. They suggested another route where I enjoyed an outdoor lunch, art galleries, and a scenic drive home. Visitor centerscan also point out festivals and events to either enjoy or navigate around. 5. Gift shop A visitor center gift shop often carries postcards, local products, shirts, books, and other keepsakes to remember your trip. I seek out stickers to label my travel journals with the destinations inside.Photo in text here 

Why I Sketch

By Connie Cottingham • September 24, 2025
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