PRELUDE GARDEN TEA

Sunday, April 18, 5pm

Flower Power Tea Party
Gardens open at 4 pm
Reservations Required

Beautiful Japanese Maples and rhododendron plants set the stage for a talk by Lisa Boalt Richardson, author of the award winning book Tea with a Twist; Entertaining and Cooking with Tea. Ms. Richardson, a Certified Tea Specialist, travels the country speaking at numerous events including the World Tea Expo and at Emory University. Guests will have the opportunity to experience this exceptional tea and lecture in the private gardens of Mr. and Mrs. R. Daniel Blanton.

GARDEN FESTIVAL PREVIEW PARTY

Thursday, April 22, 7 PM
Reservations Required

Join us for the evening premiere of the Sacred Heart Garden Festival featuring contemporary southern cuisine by Tastefully Yours, music by Patrick Blanchard and the first viewing of extraordinary gardens created by local garden professionals and floral arrangements by the Augusta Council of Garden Clubs. Be among the first to bid on custom built garden sheds and to purchase unique plants and accessories in the Vendor Market set in the Great Hall.

Speaker Series is included with Garden Festival Ticket.

Meet the 2009
First Place Winners
of the
Emily S. Cleckley
Student Competition

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Brian Gandy
Nutsedge Farm Manager

Sat.,April 24, 11 am

Brian Gandy is a Horticulturist at Garden City Organics, in downtown Augusta, and is the manager of Nutsedge Farm in Beech Island, SC.

Brian studied Horticulture at the University of Georgia. He moved to the Augusta area to establish Blue Clay Farm in North Augusta. After a year as manager at Blue Clay Farm he left to pursue Nutsedge Farm in Beech Island, SC. Brian specializes in soil fertility and organic production. He practices a variety of organic methods including crop rotation, cover cropping, drip irrigation, composting and season extension. In addition to growing, Brian manages 18 bees hives also located in Beech Island.

Contact Brian at bcgandy@gmail.com.

June Mays
Garden Design, Birmingham, AL

Fri., April 23, 9 am

June Mays retired in January 2009 from a 30 year career as a financial advisor into a career designing gardens, writing about them, and lecturing.

She is a graduate of the English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London where she earned diplomas in Garden Design and in Plantsmanship. She is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and the Garden Writers Association.

She and her husband Joe live in the Redmont neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama, where she tends a garden you are welcome to visit anytime. June is an active volunteer at the Birmingham Botanic Garden.
www.junemays.com

Ted Stephens
Nurseries Caroliniana

Sat., April 24, 9 am

A popular speaker at the garden festival, Mr. Stephens is the founder of Nurseries Caroliniana, a retail garden center focusing on offering rare and unusual plant material to the gardening public. He travels to Japan and other foreign countries regularly to collect new plant selections for introduction into the American market.

Mr. Stephens has served as the past president of the South Carolina Nursery and Landscape Association and currently serves on the advisory board of the South Carolina Botanical Garden.

www.nurcar.com

Margaret Brown
Margaret Brown Flowers

Fri., April 23, 11 am