From humble beginnings with only a small shade garden in front of the old Discovery Center, the gardens have grown to cover almost 3 acres displaying over 600 native plants from Georgia. Many of these important native plants are beneficial to wildlife.

Since 1989, CNC gardens have played an important part in our efforts to educate visitors about drought tolerance and disease resistance of native plants. These collections can be found in the Butterfly Garden, the Georgia's Living Wetland exhibit, in all the gardens around our buildings and along our formal trails.

CNC is also proud to be involved with the protection, restoration and safeguarding of many of rare and endangered plant species of Georgia and are members of the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance.