Dear Ms. Smarty Plants,
I am designing a prairie meadow in Covington GA (Zone 7) at the edge of piedmont and coastal ecosystems, primarily lower piedmont. I am trying to restore a 1/2-acre site over a septic area and want to find historical records of plants (herbaria) and sources of plants which are close to genotype. I have been unable in my searches to find information about native meadow plants in Georgia, east of Atlanta. Please help. I need to order plants very soon for a spring planting at the end of March. Thank you for your help.
The University of Georgia Herbarium is a very fine resource. You might contact them for information regarding native plants of your region. Other possible sources of information would be the Georgia Botanical Society and the Georgia Native Plant Society. Officers of these organizations are very likely familiar with resources specific to your area. Probably still the most comprehensive published account for Georgia native plant species is Albert E. Radford's Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. Since the book's focus is on North and South Carolina plant species, there are naturally some Georgia species that are not included. However, that number is surprisingly small.