News from the gardens Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens

							              News from the gardens

            Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens                     November 30, 2007    Volume 1, Issue 4




B u i l d i n g t h e F u t u r e T h ro u g h a N e w S t r a t e g i c P l a n


J
    ust released by the 2007 Strategic Planning     Vision Statement: The Bamboo Farm and Coastal
    Group is the Bamboo Farm and Coastal            Gardens will be a premier destination for horticultural,
    Gardens’ strategic plan, the first in a         educational and gardening practices.
    decade. This 18-person group included
                                                    Mission Statement: The mission of the Bamboo Farm
Bamboo Farm staff, Friends of Coastal Gardens
                                                    and Coastal Garden is to provide education, public outreach
Board members, staff from Chatham County
                                                    and applied research in horticultural and environmental
Extension and the Southeast Extension District.
                                                    sciences.
Master Gardeners, UGA staff and other
community stakeholders. The group identified        Strategic Goals:
the major building blocks, or strengths, upon       1. Providing educational opportunities to citizens and
which to build a successful future. The new         visitors
strategic plan is intended to guide the growth      2. Building successful public outreach programs to reach
                                                    the community, visitors and stakeholders.
and development of BFCG by establishing
                                                    3. Facilitating research in horticulture and
distinct goals and strategies to be accomplished
                                                    environmental services.
within a five-year period. Five goals were
                                                    4. Achieving fiscal sustainability and excellence in
identified and strategies adopted for each that     management
should lead to the successful accomplishment of
                                                    The staff of Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens wishes
the goal. An essential part of the strategic plan
                                                    to express our thanks to everyone who participated in
was the adoption of revised vision and mission      the planning sessions and especially to Mr. Alan Beals,
statements.                                         who facilitated the process.



1 3 C o m p l e t e D o c e n t Tr a i n i n g

In the near future, red-vested Garden      familiar with BFCG’s mission, history,
Guide Docents will be greeting             programs, services and role in
visitors, answering questions,             Cooperative Extension. Experts gave
promoting programs and leading tours       lectures and led tours of some of
                                                                                     Docents-in-training give mock
at the Bamboo Farm. Thirteen               BFCG’s most significant plant             tours to others members of the

individuals completed six weeks of         collections and display gardens.          class. Left to right: Thelma
                                                                                     Browne, Erv Houston, Marty
specialized training to make them fully    Continued page 2                          Coolidge, Jay Volker.
                                                       2008 Calendar of Events
Bamboo Farm and
Coastal Gardens                                            Wild Game Supper        February 29/ 6:30 pm
                                                                 Fried quail with all the trimmings
2 Canebrake Road                                          Spring Garden Festival March 22/ 9 am—4 pm
Savannah, GA 31419                                        Plant and craft vendors, educational presentations
Tel: (912) 921- 5460                                            U-Pick Strawberries     March —May
Fax: (912) 921- 5915                                     A long-standing tradition and great fun for the kids
www.ugaextension.com/bamboo                                      U-Pick Blackberries     June—July
                                                          One of the few blackberry fields in the local area
  Chatham
   County                                                 14th Annual Sunday Supper April 27/ 5:00 pm
                                                                 Southern dinner and silent auction
Commission
                                                       14th Annual Fall Festival   October 25/ 9 am—4 pm
                                                          Fun, food and entertainment for the entire family

                                   Garden Guide Docents from page one
                                   Docents-in training discussed how interact with tour groups of many ages
                                   and came to understand the importance using open-ended questions
                                   when engaging visitors in “observation and enquiry-based tours.” The
                                   mission of our Docent Program is “to facilitate personal interaction,
           Visit our website
     www.ugaextension.com/bamboo   education and enrichment between the visitors and the programs, plants and
                                   services of the Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens.”




                                   H o l i d ay W r e a t h Wo r k s h o p
                                   Mark your calendar so you won’t miss               Make a Holiday Wreath
                                   Marion Stapp’s exciting Holiday                    Instructor: Marion Stapp
                                   Wreath Making Class. Sign up for the
                                   one (or both!) of two classes. The first           Times:
                                   will be at 10 am on Saturday morning,              Saturday, Dec. 1 / 10 am—noon
                                   December 1. The second class will be               Sunday, Dec. 2 / 2—4 pm
                                   taught the next day, Sunday, December              LIMIT 15 PERSONS PER CLASS
                                   2 at 2 pm. Each student will make a
                                   12” wreath in a holiday theme. All                 Cost per person:$40
                                   materials will be supplied. Living plant           All supplies, materials, greenery,
                                   material will be harvested here at the             decorations and wreath base are
                                   Bamboo Farm—evergreen holly with
Make your own holiday
                                                                                      supplied.
                                   red berries, boxwood, lotus pods,
wreath with live greenery          bamboo foliage, magnolia leaves and                To register, call Emily at (912) 921-
from the Bamboo Farm               seed pods, berries and more. Craft                 5460 (Sorry, no credit cards can be
                                   supplies will also be provided, such as            taken.)
(oranges not included . . . but    ribbon, trims, picks, paint and bows.
we do have tangerines!)            Marion says" If you have your own glue             Make checks to : Bamboo Farm
                                   gun, please bring it.”                             and Coastal Gardens