Atlanta Botanical Gardens - Concerts in the Garden Returns!

Tickets for the 16th annual Concerts in the Garden go on sale April 6.

Concerts in the Garden returns this summer to the Atlanta Botanical Garden with a diverse lineup of acts, both at the Midtown and Gainesville venues. The 16th annual outdoor series, presented on the Great Lawn at the Midtown garden and at the Ivester Amphitheater at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Gainesville, features: In ATLANTA: Wednesday, June 6:  Sheryl Crow Friday, June 15:  The Wood Brothers Friday, June 29:  JJ Grey & Mofro Friday, July 13:  Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers Friday, July 27:  Michael McDonald Saturday, Aug. 4:  Mary Chapin Carpenter Friday, Aug. 24:  Guster In GAINESVILLE: Saturday, May 5: Boz Scaggs Saturday, Sept. 22: Melissa Etheridge Look for more acts to be announced this spring. Tickets are on sale at concertsinthegarden.org and at Garden admissions. Seating is general admission, and ticketholders are welcome to bring blankets or low-rise chairs. Cash bars and food purchases will be available. The mission of the Atlanta Botanical Garden is to develop and maintain plant collections for display, education, research, conservation and enjoyment. The Midtown Garden is located at 1345 Piedmont Ave. NE  and open from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.. For information, visit atlantabg.org or phone 404-876-5859. The Gainesville garden is located at 1911 Sweetbay Drive, Gainesville, 30501 and open from Tuesday –Sunday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. For information, visit.atlantabg.org/visit/Gainesville or phone 404-876-5859.

Atlanta Botanical Gardens - Imaginary Worlds!

Monumental, whimsical plant sculptures back this spring by popular demand.

Imaginary Worlds returns this spring with a menagerie of all-new giant living plant sculptures sure to bring a smile as they take visitors on a fantasy journey throughout the Atlanta Botanical Garden, both at the Midtown and Gainesville locations. Back by popular demand, the exhibition, presented May 5 – October 28, recaptures the magic of the original blockbuster show from 2013 and 2014 with larger-than-life, topiary-like whimsical sculptures – only this time they’re even bigger. “Imaginary Worlds was just so incredibly popular with our guests that we just had to bring it back – but with an all-new twist,” said Mary Pat Matheson, the Garden’s President & CEO. Imaginary Worlds: Once Upon a Time will wow visitors with a storybook-themed world of sculptures, both indoors and out – most custom made for the Garden by the exhibition’s creators, International Mosaiculture of Montreal®.  The nonprofit group has staged wildly successful exhibitions of its work around the world, and five years ago the Garden presented the first major exhibition of its kind in the United States This time, the sculptures – steel forms covered in a mossy fabric, stuffed with soil and planted with thousands of meticulously groomed plants – will be staged in 14 installations. At the Midtown garden, look for a giant Phoenix looming over the Alston Overlook, a mermaid lounging beside Howell Fountain, a massive dragon and sleeping princess near the Great Lawn, a woolly mammoth and a prancing peacock inside the Fuqua Orchid Center, and three towering camels lumbering through the Skyline Garden, to name a few. At the Gainesville garden, the landscape will be adorned with a variety of characters, including a friendly ogre, panda bears and frolicking frogs. This all-new cast of characters joins the Garden's permanent sculptures, Earth Goddess and Shaggy Dog, which are legacies from the original exhibition. “In addition to featuring all of the new characters, this exhibition is unique in that the sculptures are extremely large, much more so than the ones in the original show, and our own team of horticulturists will be planting them,” Matheson said. The process for creating the sculptures takes nearly half a year. It began last fall when conceptual drawings for the pieces were developed in Montreal, metal frames were fabricated, and plant palettes were chosen. The empty frames were shipped to Atlanta in January, and the Garden’s horticulturists began covering them with a mesh fabric and stuffing them with soil. Then the planting commenced – inserting more than 200,000 plants, primarily annuals, one by one. Because Atlanta’s winters are too cold for the annuals to survive, the sculptures were built in sections that were planted inside a greenhouse just outside the city, then trucked to the Garden in spring for assembling on site. Intricate irrigation systems beneath the surface of the sculptures allow the plants to grow – and the creatures to flourish – in Atlanta’s summer heat. Throughout the exhibition, guests will be able to also enjoy the sculptures in a whole new light at night – illuminated on Thursday evenings during Cocktails in the Garden.

It's Time Again! Cocktails in the Garden!

Atlanta's favorite after-hours social returns.

Atlanta's favorite after-hours social returns this spring! Explore the city’s lush urban oasis in the cool of the evening on Thursdays from May through September as Cocktails in the Garden returns to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. As an after-hours social for young professionals, a romantic date night for couples, or simply a fun friends’ outing for still others, the event – dubbed “social irrigation” – offers specialty drinks from full cash bars, deejays and live entertainment, and games and other activities.  Set for 5:30 – 9:30 p.m., Cocktails in the Garden also is the only opportunity for experiencing the Garden in the evening, when the cooler temperatures at twilight cast the Garden’s thousands of beautiful flowers in a whole different light while drawing out their fragrance. In addition, guests may explore the Garden’s exhibition, Imaginary Worlds, featuring giant topiary-like sculptures made of mosaiculture, all set to a storybook theme.     Finally, guests may round out the evening with a scrumptious dinner at the Garden’s Longleaf restaurant. Reservations are recommended. For information, visit atlantabg.org.

Center for the Puppetry Arts - Rainforest Adventures!

Prepare for a wild adventure beneath a Brazilian treetop canopy, courtesy of toucans, anacondas, sloths, and more! Playing January 23-March 4, Rainforest Adventures is an up-close look at a day in the life of animals living in one of the most amazing, mysterious places on earth.  Explorers of all ages will experience Brazilian-inspired music as they come face-to-face with more than 30 exotic plants and animals that inhabit the Amazonian ecosystem.  A mischievous howler monkey leaping from tree to tree, bats beating their wings in a glorious evening ballet, a keen-eyed harpy eagle searching for its next meal, and pink river dolphins playfully exploring the waterways create a vibrant escape to the tropics as the Amazon Rainforest comes to life!  Co-written by the Center’s Artistic Director Jon Ludwig, with Stephanie Kaskel Bogle and Raylynn Hughes, Rainforest Adventures features numerous puppets performed in a Czech Black style by puppeteers Brian Harrison, Jake Krakovsky, Emily Marsh, Tim Sweeney, and Anna Claire Walker.  As part of the Czech Black tradition, puppeteers dress in black from head to toe and manipulate puppets in a tight curtain of light in front of them, ultimately allowing them to disappear behind the light.  Hidden from sight, puppeteers are able to create dazzling, complex movements of all kinds with the puppets and props, sometimes with three or four puppeteers working together to execute a single movement.  The scenery as well as all of the puppets were designed and built by the Center, and many of the puppets were built to scale making them the same size as their counterparts in the wild.  Recommended for ages 4 and up, Rainforest Adventures is presented in the Mainstage Theater, January 23 – March 4 with reduced-price previews on January 23 and 24 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. On Sunday, January 28, Girl Scouts are invited to participate in a series of activities that will allow them to be eligible for all four STEM patches in a single day.  Scouts will explore the science of the rainforest ecosystem, technology behind puppet performances, engineering used to design some of the puppets in the Worlds of Puppetry Museum exhibits, and the math skills utilized to build a puppet in the Create-A-Puppet Workshops™.   Activities will take place from 12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Center for Puppetry Arts will continue its dedication to programming for patrons with ASD on Sunday, February 11, with sensory-friendly modifications to the performance as well as in the Museum and in the Create-A-Puppet Workshops™.  The Center will also provide a quiet room, social stories, noise-reducing headphones, and fidget toys for guests who need those resources.  For details, visit http://puppet.org/asd.  Regular show times are as follows: ·     Tuesday-Friday:  10 a.m. and 11:30 am.        ·     Saturday:  11 a.m. and 1 pm. ·     Sunday:  1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets are $9.75 (Members) and $19.50 (nonmembers).  The Family Series All-Inclusive Tickets include admission to the performance, Worlds of Puppetry Museum (with the largest collection of Jim Henson puppets and artifacts in the world as well as a Global Gallery), and the Create-A-Puppet Workshop™, where guests can make and perform with their own Pink River Dolphin marionette. Tickets can be purchased online at www.puppet.org or by calling 404.873.3391.

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Reindog Parade!

Treat the Pooch to Reindog Parade! Dress that pooch in its finest holiday finery for the 10th annual Reindog Parade on Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.   During the competition, which begins at 11 a.m., pups clad in fun attire will parade across a stage before a panel of judges to compete for prizes -- or just to show off for fun.  Categories include Best Puppy, Best Adult, Best Botanical, Best Dog-Owner Dress-alike, Best Dog Pack, and ultimately, Best in Show. Emceeing the competition will be Victoria Stillwell, host of the Animal Planet TV show “It’s Me or the Dog,” and Vincent Martinez of Fashionado. A Doggie Expo will offer canine-related products, services and information, and participants may have photos of their dogs taken with Botanical Saint Nick. Owners of all dogs attending the event are encouraged to pre-register at www.atlantabg.org. The cost, in addition to regular Garden admission, is $15 per dog, or $18 at the door (maximum two dogs per owner).   Reindog Parade joins the Garden’s array of holiday offerings this year, including the seventh annual Garden Lights, Holiday Nights Nov. 11 - Jan. 7 featuring “Nature’s Wonders,” the world’s largest curtain of light synchronized with music and sound effects. Information: www.atlantabg.org.

Atlanta Botanical Gardens - Garden Lights!

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Share this:     Tickets on sale! Garden Lights, Holiday Nights dazzles with new colors, displays Tickets are on sale for Atlanta’s favorite holiday tradition, Garden Lights, Holiday Nights, featuring a spectacular new high-tech display and all new cool-colored lights sure to enthrall visitors of all ages. In the new “Nature’s Wonders” display, guests will be dazzled by cutting-edge technology that allows lights -- all suspended from the grand treetops of Storza Woods – to be choreographed to music and sound effects during the seventh annual show presented nightly November 11 – January 7.  The display features a massive theatre stage-like curtain of vertical lights forming a wall of brilliant colors that can be programmed to music and special sound effects. “You’re going to hear lots of oohs and aahs over a display that’s inspired by the fascinating phenomena of the natural world – its land, water, and sky – rendered dramatically through light and sound,” said Mary Pat Matheson, the Garden’s President & CEO.  “It’s definitely going to be the talk of the light show and something new for people to be excited about!” “Nature’s Wonders” includes more than 1,000 vertically hung strands of multi-colored lights in 16-, 32-, and 64-foot lengths suspended from the tops of the woods’ tallest hardwoods.  And because the curtain-like screen extends over the Canopy Walk and the valley below, it can be experienced from multiple vantage points. The special effects created by synchronized light, music, and sound will portray the wonders of nature – including ocean waves, thunderstorms, snowfalls, rainbows, sunrises/sunsets, meteor showers, and more.  Much of the music will be classical crowd pleasers inspired by nature, including some holiday-themed ones. Elsewhere in the Garden, look for a return of perennial favorites like the Great Lawn’s dancing “Orchestral Orbs”, towering cone trees, giant candles, the serene Ice Goddess, and enveloping “Tunnel of Light” – most emphasizing all-new cooler hues of green, blue, and teal. In addition, the Holiday Model Trains will be chugging and the Glow Bar hopping, while s’more-roasting firepits and cash bars will take the chill off both kids and kids at heart.  Round out the evening by reserving a table at Longleaf restaurant or grab some takeout at the Quick Café.  Planning a party?  For private rentals, call 404-591-1555. For ticket information and other details, visit atlantabg.org.

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Reindog Parade Returns!

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Share this:  Dress that pooch in its finest holiday finery for the 10th annual Reindog Parade on Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.   During the competition, which begins at 11 a.m., pups clad in fun attire will parade across a stage before a panel of judges to compete for prizes -- or just to show off for fun.  Categories include Best Puppy, Best Adult, Best Botanical, Best Dog-Owner Dress-alike, Best Dog Pack, and ultimately, Best in Show. Emceeing the competition will be Victoria Stillwell, host of the Animal Planet TV show “It’s Me or the Dog,” and Vincent Martinez of Fashionado. A Doggie Expo will offer canine-related products, services, and information, and participants may have photos of their dogs taken with Botanical Saint Nick. Owners of all dogs attending the event are encouraged to pre-register at www.atlantabg.org.  The cost, in addition to regular Garden admission, is $15 per dog or $18 at the door (maximum two dogs per owner).   Reindog Parade joins the Garden’s array of holiday offerings this year, including the seventh annual Garden Lights, Holiday Nights Nov. 11 - Jan. 7 featuring “Nature’s Wonders,” the world’s largest curtain of light synchronized with music and sound effects.  Information: www.atlantabg.org.

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Registration Opens!

Lights! Camera! Action! Registration is now open for exhibitors in the new Atlanta Botanical Garden Flower Show February 23 – 25, with the theme Ingenue: A Toast to Georgia’s Film Industry. It’s been five years since Atlantans were treated to a wintertime show filled with all the beauty and fragrance of thousands of plants, giving guests a taste of springtime.  So this new event, featuring juried competitions in Horticulture, Floral Design, and Photography, is sure to whet their appetites for the season (there’s also a Landscape Design division for professional designers). “The Garden is the perfect setting for a flower show because our facilities and gardens will serve as a beautiful backdrop for these entries,” said Mary Pat Matheson, the Garden’s President & CEO. Competitive entries will be showcased throughout Day Hall, Mershon Hall, and Gardenhouse, and exhibitors may register now (visit atlantabg.org/flowershow for deadlines).  Adults, children, and garden clubs are encouraged to enter the competitions, all themed around the burgeoning Georgia film industry. In addition to the competitions, the event, which benefits the botanical garden’s International Plant Exploration Program, will present two guest speakers: internationally renowned floral designer Bruno Duarte and Georgia floral and interior designer, and author James Farmer. The show, which kicks off the evening of Thursday, Feb. 22, with a Preview Party at the garden’s Longleaf restaurant, honors Pat Hartrampf for her decades-long devotion to flowers shows in Atlanta and throughout Georgia. Flower shows have long been a seasonal draw in many large cities throughout the United States, and Atlanta enjoyed such an event for 25 years, staged at various venues around the city, including the botanical garden. The first Atlanta Flower Show opened in 1988 and ran through 1993 before evolving into the Southeastern Flower Show from 1994 through 2013.  From 2008 – 2013, the event was presented by the Southeastern Horticultural Society, which held its last show at Cobb Galleria Centre. The Garden was a longtime exhibitor in the shows, and many of its earliest volunteers were active in the event. Since the Southeastern Flower Show ended, the botanical garden often has been asked to help resurrect a flower show.  “We decided it was time,“  Matheson said, “because it's so important to continue to offer competitive shows where the art and science of horticulture and floriculture can be presented and celebrated.” Co-chairs for the show are Mary Wayne Dixon and Mary Katherine Greene. For more information, visit atlantabg.org/flower show or call Devin Cowens at 404-591-1730.

Rudolph Has an Extended Stay at the Center for Puppetry Arts!

A performance so bright, some might even say it glows! Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer™ is flying to the Center for Puppetry Arts once again this holiday season!  The classic tale will be presented in the Mainstage Theater, November 7 – December 31.  The holiday spectacular was adapted by Jon Ludwig and is directed by Tim Sweeney.  Based on the timeless 1964 stop-motion animated television special, this must-see show is a favorite for all ages. Rudolph the Red Nosed-Reindeer™ is filled with adventure, friendship, and bound to bring joy to all this bright and merry season!  Patrons will watch in wonder as the North Pole truly comes to life through the use of rod and body puppets meticulously designed by the Center’s Resident Puppet Builder Jason Hines and constructed by the Center’s team of puppet builders. Puppeteers Dolph Amick, Nikolas Carleo, Brian Harrison, Emily Marsh, Kathryn O’Shea, and Anna Claire Walker create the magic of the classic tale on stage. Sam the Snowman™ will once again narrate the beloved tale of unlikely friendship formed among Rudolph™, Hermey the Elf™, Yukon Cornelius™,   and all of the magnificent misfit toys.  While narrowly escaping the grips of Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster™ and braving perilous blizzards, their journey is sure to warm hearts as the friends learn the importance of being true to one’s self and accepting others along the way.  Rudolph the Red-Nosed ReindeerTM is recommended for ages 4 and up. All-inclusive tickets to all shows also include entrance to the Create-A-Puppet Workshop™, where guests can make and decorate their own King Moonracer™ Rod and String Puppet, as well as admission to the Worlds of Puppetry Museum.                                                The show schedule is as follows: ·     November 7-19:             o  Tuesday-Friday: 10 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. o  Saturday: 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.  o  Sunday: 1 p.m. and 3 p.m *Reduced-price previews November 7 & 8 ·     November 21-26: o  Tuesday: 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. o  Wednesday: 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. o  Friday-Saturday: 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. o  Sunday: 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. *The Center will be closed on Thursday, November 23 in observance of Thanksgiving Day ·     November 28-December 10: o  Tuesday-Friday: 10 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. o  Saturday: 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. o  Sunday: 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. (special 5 p.m. show on December 10 only) ·     December 12-24: o  Tuesday-Wednesday: 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. o  Thursday-Friday: 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. o  Saturday: 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. o  Sunday: 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. *The Center will be closed on Monday, December 25 in observance of Christmas Day ·     December 26-31: o  Tuesday-Wednesday: 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. o  Thursday-Friday: 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. o  Saturday: 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. o  Sunday: 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets prices vary by date and start at $9.25 (Members) and $19.50 (nonmembers); all-inclusive tickets include admission to the show, the Worlds of Puppetry Museum (with the largest collection of Jim Henson puppets and artifacts in the world as well as a Global Gallery), and entrance to the Create-A-Puppet Workshop™ where guests can make and decorate their own King Moonracer™ Rod and String Puppet and perform with it on the Center’s classroom stage.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.puppet.org or by calling 404.873.3391.