Food Feature: Flower power

Bob is going to Provence in June. He’s going to stay in a chalet and have picnics in fields of sunflowers. Bob and I are no longer friends. I hate Bob. You, too, can hate Bob if you want. We can form a “Bob Sucks” club. As our first order of business, I move that we hold our meetings at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens during this summer’s Sunflower Music Series concerts. Yes, we’ll rag on Bob and drink cold beer in a beautiful botanical garden as we soak up tunes from the likes of Vic Chesnutt and Randall Bramblett. Who needs the French countryside for some joie de vivre this summer? Not us. And we’re going to keep on telling ourselves that.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia is one of the state’s best-kept secrets and well worth the hour-and-a-quarter drive from Atlanta. It’s actually quite different from the Atlanta Botanical Garden, so don’t think you’ve been-there-done-that. For starters, the State Botanical Garden is a lot bigger and has more natural areas — 316 acres with several miles of trails through various types of forest. Though it’s part of the University of Georgia, it’s located off campus on the edge of town, which makes it seem even bigger and more secluded. In addition to all the somewhat raw nature to wallow in, there are several cultivated gardens and a tropical conservatory complete with gift shop and cafe. And there’s no admission fee.

The Garden offers classes throughout the year on topics like container gardening, nature photography, rose gardening, organic veggie farming, and so on. You get a bit of a discount if you become a member, but all classes are open to nonmembers and are super-cheap compared to many such places anyway. Check out the calendar at www.uga.edu/botgarden or call 706-542-1244 and ask them to mail you a copy of “Garden Happenings.” (I should ‘fess up at this point: I work part time for the Garden. However, during a three-year absence, I remained a member and volunteer.)

In addition to all the educational programming, the Garden is very active in plant conservation in Georgia and beyond. In fact, its Plant Conservation Program is well respected around the country for doing innovative work with threatened and endangered species. They rescue plants from areas that are about to be clear-cut. They collect and study seeds of threatened species. They gather information critical to germinating and growing said seeds. They reintroduce lab-grown plants to the wild. They put together materials and slide shows to get the word out. It’s amazing. They really are saving plants that are in danger of disappearing forever.

One of my favorite collections at the Garden is a direct result of the Plant Conservation Program’s work: the pitcher plant bog in the International Garden. Now, in case you didn’t already know this, carnivorous plants are tres cool. If they were people, they’d drive retro muscle cars and listen to the Beastie Boys. There are a few different kinds of pitcher plants native to Georgia including yellow pitcher plants, parrot pitcher plants and whitetop pitcher plants. They all look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book — very odd and magical tubular stalks with lid-like tops. The insides are full of downward-pointing hairs and sticky digesting juices, so bugs that slip in are literally dead meat. The parrot pitcher plants are kind of stubby and sit all hunched on the ground like a bunch of drunk parrots passed out from too much bug-eatin’ revelry. The yellow and whitetop pitcher plants are tall and their tops look like jaunty newsboy caps. You half expect to see a cigarette dangling out over their “lips”.

Anyway, there are lots of other gardens to check out: the Herb Garden, the Heritage Garden, the Native Flora Garden, the Rose Garden, and so on. Of the many reasons to visit the State Botanical Garden, the three best are the upcoming Sunflower Music Series concerts. The concerts are held on the lawn in the center of the International Garden Tuesday evenings. Tickets are $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers and include beer, wine and snacks. Bring a full-fledged picnic and a blanket and you are set, my friend.

Last summer’s concerts were among the best local events of the season, especially the Vic Chesnutt show. It was picture-perfect summertime bliss: chilling on the grass with good friends, drinking cold ones, surrounded by gorgeous green stuff, listening to the most amazing genius to ever come out of this little hamlet. The sunset was one of those cantaloupe-colored ones that Georgia does so well and the air was thick with the sweet smell of flowers that have sweated in the sun all day. Screw Provence!

The first concert June 11 will be a double-header with Vic Chesnutt and Randall Bramblett. The next one will be July 9 with funk-jammers Squat and a yet-to-be-named opener. The final show Aug. 13 will feature Athens favorite get-down blues daddy, Neal Pattman. If you can’t physically make it to the shows, you can still listen to the concerts on www.wuga.org.

Word has gotten out about the series, so expect tickets to sell out fast. Call now for info and purchasing: 706-542-1244. As for me, I’ll be holding Bob Sucks meetings smack in the middle of the lawn by the babbling brook. Yes, a babbling brook. Ain’t life grand? Come by and have some olive pate and raise a toast to Georgia summers.??