Seasonal

Explore the Native Gardens at the CNC

Native Plant Scavenger Hunt

By Taylor Lamb, Horticulturist at CNC
July 26, 2020

There is no better time than now to get outside and stretch your legs and your brain! In the horticulture department at the CNC, we pride ourselves on our knowledge of native plant species, and we thought it would be fun to challenge visitors of all ages to a friendly scavenger hunt!

Georgia is renowned for its vastly differing landscapes. From the sandy, dry terrain of The Coastal Plains to the cool, moist climate of The Blue Ridge Mountains, plant species across Georgia have adapted over time to fill every niche.

This variety produces absolutely stunning and unique specimens that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world. Each of our gardens across the CNC strives to emanate these unique habitats, and we would love it if you join us on this virtual tour throughout our property.

Plan your visit to CNC to explore the gardens and try to find as many species as you can! Some of the plants are not in top bloom so it will be even more of a challenge!

Cowboy Pants: Garden on your left as you exit the top of the Discovery Center

Rudbeckia maxima, Large Coneflower

Extremely tall flowers that can reach 8 feet in height! In the Fall these tall stalks need to be stabilized so they don’t fall in the way of the path.

Schizachyrium scoparium, Little Bluestem Grass

Little Blue-Stem is aptly named as its foliage has blue tints to it. This becomes more apparent as Autumn approaches.

Craft’s Memorial Garden: Garden on your right as you exit the top of the Discovery Center

Manfreda virginica, False Aloe

This aloe plant look-alike fools many! It has an aloe-like basal rosette and tall flowering stalks that can reach 5 feet.

Butterfly Garden: Garden above Butterfly Encounter

Asclepias sp., Milkweed

This garden is home to many different species of milkweed – the host plant of the monarch butterfly. Monarch’s require these tall slender plants to reproduce.

Longleaf Pine Gardens: Gardens across the Brady Pavillion

Pinus palustris, Long-leaf Pine

These pines differ from the typical Loblolly Pine that we find around Atlanta with their long leaves and their distinctive growing habits. Immature adults will have one major shoot will stay in this form until they reach adulthood. Then they will branch off to look like a more standard pine.

Barbara’s Button Garden: Garden just below the Great Horned Owl Exhibit

Marshallia caespitosa, Barbara’s Button

Eccentric, low-growing perennial that forms white fluff ball blooms in early Summer.

Georgia’s Living Wetland: Garden past the Brady Pavilion as you walk the unpaved paths near the exit to the boardwalk.

Sarracenia sp, Pitcher Plant

This carnivorous plant is a perfect example of a species that has adapted to fill niches where most organisms would have trouble surviving. Pitcher plants thrive in highly acidic, nutrient-poor environments. When they feel an insect inside of their opening, they shut their hood trapping insects inside digesting/dissolving the prey slowly over time. We have many species in this garden including Purple Pitcher Plant, Yellow Pitcher Plant, and more.

We hope that you have enjoyed a virtual tour of the gardens found at the CNC. There are many other plants to explore in the gardens and we hope that you will plan your visit and take the time to experience the native gardens and all that they have to offer.

Butterfly Encounter lands at the Chattahoochee Nature Center

Roswell's Chattahoochee Nature Center has plenty for you to see right now

July 14, 2020 – Fox 5 Atlanta, Good Day Atlanta
By Paul Milliken

ROSWELL, Ga. – Reservations are required and masks are abundant, but aside from the obvious changes due to the coronavirus pandemic, staffers at the Chattahoochee Nature Center say their popular Butterfly Encounter will provide the same magical experience for visitors this year.

This year’s Butterfly Encounter opened last month will will continue daily through August 2nd, welcoming visitors into a butterfly-filled tent and allowing them to see the delicate winged creatures closer than ever before.

Click to view entire article

Renewed Love of Outside

Spending time in nature is important even as the seasons change

By Kitty Glickman, Visitor Services Associate
July 29, 2020

The past few months have been a new experience for all of us. There have been changes to the way we socialize, work, and attend school. For most of us, this finding a “new normal” has had its share of difficult and challenging moments.

For some, social distancing and staying at home more has allowed us to fall in love with the outdoors again.

At the Chattahoochee Nature Center, our mission is to “Connect People to Nature”. All year long, we strive to help everyone, young and old, discover a love and curiosity for the natural world. This year, when many of us were stuck at home, the highlight of our day involved the outdoors. Our dogs were taken on lots of extra walks. Kids started riding their bikes again. Sprinklers were set up in the front yard and exploring woods and creeks became cool again. Nature was there for us to help us cope with a stressful time, by providing us a place to go for exercise, play, stress relief, and learning.

As the summer moves along, we are approaching the start of a new school year. Whatever form school may take, let’s keep the outdoors and spending time in nature a part of our day. When the school and work day is done, don’t be tempted to sit in front of the TV. Instead, head outside to explore, play, take a walk, or ride your bike. Have a picnic. Watch the sunset and afterwards maybe spy some late summer fireflies.

School starting does not mean the end of having fun outdoors. Quite the opposite! Nature exploration and learning go hand in hand. For adults, spending time outdoors will still provide the much needed stress relief and exercise that helps to keep us healthy. Time spent in nature will strengthen not only the bond we have with the natural world, but also with each other. So as some routines may now be changing with the start of a new school year, keep the new love of being outside part of that routine too!

How to Invite Butterflies to Your Garden & Help Pollination

Planning is needed to invite pollinators

Edited by Henning von Schmeling, Senior Director of Operations
June 12, 2020

We have all heard the stories of bees and other insects dying out in large numbers. It’s a mysterious phenomenon, however our buzzing friends are not the only ones facing difficulties in populations.

Pollinators of all kinds – including bees and butterflies – are relied upon heavily in the plant world to, well, pollinate. The relationship between pollinators and flowers is one that most people understand. Butterflies rely on nectar, the sweet liquid found hidden within flowers. As a butterfly lands and sips nectar it unintentionally picks up pollen. By doing that it does the flower a favor by moving its pollen around the garden and ensuring another generation of blooms. While a butterfly may visit a variety of flowers for nourishment, they look for specific plants – called “host plants” – on which to lay eggs. A caterpillar is choosy; it will not munch the leaves of just any plant.

One famous example is the milkweed species of plant. Monarch Butterflies, those bright orange and black butterflies, will only lay their eggs on milkweed, making it essential to their survival. However, if the milkweed is not present when the Monarchs make their annual migration to Mexico, they cannot breed. Likewise, the Tiger Swallowtail, Georgia’s state butterfly, looks for tulip poplar trees, on which to lay their eggs.

Henning von Schmeling, with the Chattahoochee Nature Center, said planning is needed to invite pollinators into a garden.

“Everybody always says that you have to plant flowers since adult butterflies eat nectar, but you won’t raise butterflies unless you have the specific host plants that each species of adult butterfly needs to lay their eggs on,” said von Schmeling.

Even if you live in a subdivision where there are covenants with strict landscaping guidelines, von Schmeling suggests locating a section in the back for a natural garden. Butterflies are repelled, and often endangered, by herbicides and pesticides. They prefer overgrown areas, especially with native plants and flowers of the host and nectar plants they prefer and where they can lay their eggs where the caterpillars will thrive.

The Unity Garden continues to provide fresh produce for local food bank

Unity Garden staff work hard to maintain garden without volunteer support

By Tracy Begley, Website and Marketing Specialist, and Julie Hollingsworth-Hogg, Horticulture Manager

As CNC begins the process of reopening to the public, we are happy to have visitors back on the property. There were too many quiet days, and we have enjoyed hearing kids laughing and enjoying the grounds the past week. The ticketing and reservation system, plus operational changes, will allow us to provide an outdoor, natural area for our guests to enjoy and also feel like we are taking their health and safety into consideration.

During our closure we still had many things happening around the property. The Operations Department worked hard on improvement projects, such as replacing decking and painting all of the metal railings. The Wildlife Department is providing care for the 100 resident animals that you see on exhibit, and those used for educational purposes. The Horticulture Department is still maintaining the native gardens and greenhouses, and the Unity Garden continues to provide fresh produce to the North Fulton Community Charities on a weekly basis.

Operations at the CNC has 3 departments – Maintenance, Horticulture, and Wildlife, and all 3 departments rely upon weekly volunteers to help with various tasks that support our mission at the nature center.

The Unity Garden has a group of dedicated volunteers that show up each week to help plant, weed, and harvest the 1/4 acre garden. In 2019 the horticulture department, which includes the Unity Garden, had 504 volunteers that provided 4,300 hours. The support of volunteers has been missed greatly. The largest obstacle over the last few months in the Unity Garden has been harvesting. It takes a considerable amount of time for Unity Garden Horticulturist, Christopher Horacek, to harvest alone each week, even with other horticulture staff helping him out.

I talked with Julie Hollingsworth-Hogg, Horticulture Manager, to find out what is currently happening in the Unity Garden.

What is being harvested right now?

The month of May will finish out the cool season crops. Lettuce, greens, carrots, and turnips will finish their growing and harvesting this month.

What is currently in the garden?

At this moment we still have lettuce, greens, carrots, turnips, radishes, and sugar snap peas, but the summer crops are going in. Tomatoes, peppers, carrots, green beans, eggplants, squash, and cucumbers have all been planted or will be going in soon.

How much has been harvested and donated to North Fulton Community Charities in 2020?

We have donated just over 1.5 tons of produce to North Fulton Community Charities to support their food bank for 2020. Last year we donated just over 4 tons. As you can imagine summer will produce larger harvests and donations, which is why it is so important right now to continue preparing the Unity Garden for summer crops even without the help of volunteers.

Just this last week Christopher took over 338 pounds of produce that included 5 varieties of lettuce, mustard greens, turnips, broccoli, and kale. North Fulton Community Charities is serving over 100 families right now. They supply food and personal needs and the families are very appreciative of the fresh produce, and the garden staff has planted specific crops to meet there preferences throughout the seasons.

Until we have volunteers return to the CNC the Horticulture Department and Unity Garden, staff will continue to take care of the garden and make sure that as the needs of families remain in Fulton County the Unity Garden at the Chattahoochee Nature Center will be there to provide fresh produce.

Want to learn more about the partnership between the Chattahoochee Nature Center and North Fulton Community Charities please visit the following:

CNC donates 340 lbs. to local food bank -April 15, 2020

CNC donates fresh produce to the NFCC food pantry – video

Enchanted winners named for CNC’s fairy trail contest

This way to Tower Town, at the Enchanted Woodland Trail.

The judging was tough, but finally a winner has emerged in the contest for best fairy house at the Chattahoochee Nature Center’s Enchanted Woodland Trail.

The winner is “Tower Town” by Mary Jo Wood and her grandchildren, Malkolm, 10, and Touie, 8. This unique design had three separate buildings each with a different purpose, including rock shop, tower and wedding chapel.

Malkolm was so engaged with the project, helping with the design, development, and installation. They have seen the trail in past years, and Mary promised them they could make one. This year it finally happened, and they won to boot. Congratulations!

“Tower Town” by Mary Jo Wood and her grandchildren, Malkolm, 10, and Touie, 8, was judged the overall winner of the fairy house contest.

According to the team, the base consisted of recycled plastic bottles with doors and windows cut out. Natural materials, such as back, lichens, twigs and acorns, were then glued on.

They created a back story as well:

“Fairies, like the rest of us, adapt to the times, and while they sometimes use our trash to build their homes, they would like the CNC to convey the following message, “Dear Humans, Enough is enough. Please stop leaving your plastic bottles in our forests. Take them home and recycle them yourselves. Thank you. The North Georgia Society of Fairies for Better Forests.”

Second place went to mother-daughter duo Mandie and Josie Gastineau with their fairy house. According to the pair, “Our fairies have three main powers: water, fire and healing, which makes them friends of the forest and especially the lost or injured animals.”

Harnessing three elements, this fairy by mother-daughter duo Mandie and Josie Gastineau, is ready to make magic.

With a mountain stream flowing into a pond where fairies can play, this fairy house blends into a tree stump, with the fairy perched on top with her magic potions.

Third place came from Martha, Caroline (8) and Annie (5) Dinges. It uses acorns, moss, and wood incorporated into an area of rock and tree roots along the trail. The fairies have a picnic table to enjoy the outdoors as well as cork trees and a wooden bridge over a stream. The ideas came from Caroline, said Martha. “I just manned the hot glue gun!”

High Meadows School received the people’s choice award for their fairy schoolhouse.

How does a fairy swing? In a tire swing, of course. Can you find the fairy schoolhouse by High Meadows?

“The symbol of our school is a tire swing and we plan to include a tire swing in our play area outside the fairy school,” said the school about their fairy schoolhouse.

Come see these and all the other fairy houses of all shapes and sizes at the Enchanted Woodland Trail, open now through February 29. The trail is sponsored by Northside Hospital and is included with general admission to CNC.

Christmas Owl Surprises Family

A Newnan home received a unique Christmas gift last week, when a live owl turned up in their tree.

“No joke, we just found a LIVE owl roosting in our Christmas tree. What?!?!?” said Katie Newman, Dec. 12 on Facebook.

Newman said her daughter spotted the Eastern Screech Owl squatting in the tree among other ornaments. (There were many owl-shaped ones, so it fit right in at first). When the “ornament” turned its head to watch Newman’s daughter, they knew something was off.

An Eastern Screech Owl perched on a Christmas Tree — Photo Credit: Katie McBride Newman, Facebook

Newman documented her owl story on Facebook as she and her family tried to get the owl outside through opening windows and shoo-ing it. When that didn’t work, she called the Department of Natural Resources for help. They put her in touch with CNC.

“She called us and I just happened to be driving past Newnan the next morning on my way to Auburn. I told her I would try and catch it and do an exam. If it needed immediate care she would take it to a rehabber,” said Dawn Ellerman, a wildlife technician at CNC. She caught and examined the creature, and said it looked healthy.

Since it is illegal to keep an owl as a pet, Ellerman was able to tell Newman how to release the tiny owl back into the wild.

“We owe so much thanks to the Chattahoochee Nature Center Wildlife team,” said Newman. “Truly good Samaritans who saved our Christmas Owl.”

Read more about the owl in an article at the Newnan Times-Herald.

The family in this instance opened their doors and windows to encourage the owl to fly away on its own. They called the Chattahoochee Nature Center and we were able to come help catch the owl, make sure it was healthy, giving it food and water, and give instructions on care and release.

Do not try to keep a wild animal as a pet, especially owls and other wild birds. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it a federal crime for anyone to keep a native owl who is not a licensed rehabber.

If you find a wild animal in your home, call a licensed animal rehabilitation professional, such as the Chattahoochee Nature Center, or visit Animal Help Now for your local rehabber. They will help identify the animal and help catch it or release it.

The Chattahoochee Nature Center’s wildlife rehabilitation department did a fantastic job helping the bird. As a non-profit, CNC strives to do what it can for the wildlife we see. Please consider helping CNC’s efforts by going here: Georgia Gives.

Bats in your backyard

It’s the perfect time of year to gather together on the back deck and watch for…bats! Often portrayed by media as blood-sucking and disease ridden pests, sometimes bats don’t always have the best reputation. What most people don’t realize though, is that bats are a great asset to any backyard. But why?

There are sixteen species of bats found in Georgia. All of these bats eat insects, including mosquitoes, stinkbugs, even moths and beetles that destroy your plants. Bats consume thousands of insects each night – pregnant and nursing females can eat their entire body weight. Can your tiki torch keep up with those numbers? Not only is this great news for us, but for farmers, too. Bats save upwards of one billion dollars each year for the agricultural industry in the United States. That means the more insects that bats eat, the less pesticides farmers need to use on crops!

Now that everyone is on board with the idea of bats in their backyard – how do you get them there? For starters, there are several species of bats that will roost together in tight spaces. For these bats, you can install a bat house in your backyard. For best results, make sure the bat house receives 6-8 hours of direct sunlight each day, is installed 15-20 feet high, and is placed on a pole or the side of a building. Live trees are not the best location for bat houses as they typically receive less sunlight and make sleeping bats more vulnerable to predators. Additionally, you can garden for bats. Their favorite meals include moths and beetles; by planting flowers that bloom at night, you’ll help attract these larger insects and provide a nutritious meal for your backyard bats.

What about the guano (poop) or rabies bats may bring? Luckily for you, guano is a great fertilizer. Place a flower pot beneath your bat house and watch those flowers bloom! Talk about a mutualistic relationship. As far as rabies and bats go, you can rest assured that a very small percentage of bats have tested positive for rabies. That being said, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Don’t pick up a bat you see on the ground.

Bats face many threats every day, like White-Nosed Syndrome, pesticides, wind-mills, and habitat loss. You can help bats by limiting the use of pesticides and fertilizers in your yard, installing bat houses, and spreading the good word about bats to help combat fearful myths about them.

For more information on bats, join the Chattahoochee Nature Center on a Night Hike or visit a reliable website such as Bat Conservation International to learn more. Stay batty!

What to Do if You Find a Baby Animal Part 2

Baby Birds and Baby Squirrels

Written by Wildlife Director, Kathryn Dudeck

Spring brings buds, blooms, rains, and lots of calls to the Wildlife Department at CNC about baby animals. While we are licensed and trained only for raptors, reptiles, and amphibians, we respond to over 150 requests each month in spring regarding wildlife babies. Here’s what you can do to help the little ones you may encounter:

Baby Birds:

The first question we ask is “Is it naked, covered in fluff, or have fluff, feathers, and a stumpy tail?” It depends on the answer as to what needs to be done, if anything. If the baby is naked or covered in fluff, it should not yet be out of the nest. If possible, place the baby back into the original nest, ensuring to look on the ground, in low shrubs, and tree branches, since some species only nest 3-4’ off the ground and others actually nest on the ground. If you cannot find the nest, place dried grass and leaf litter in a small basket and place it/hang it in the closest tree. The parents cannot pick the baby up, but they will tend to it in the surrogate nest.

If the bird is partially feathered and has a stumpy tail, it is a fledgling and is supposed to be on the ground. This is the critical time it is building flight muscles and learning from its parents what to eat and how to hide. If the bird has wandered into a roadway, gently pick it up and place it under some nearby bushes. It will start calling once you leave and the parents will relocate it. It is an old wives’ tale about human scent. This myth started when people tried to put fledglings back in the nest and they jumped out or were pushed out by the parents so that they could continue teaching them.

Baby Squirrels:

grey squirrel carrying baby in their mouth — Photo credit to Kevin Gaston

By far, our most frequent phone calls this time of year are regarding baby squirrels. Eastern gray squirrels have two peak breeding seasons in the south, and we are right in the middle of the first one. Mother squirrels can have 8-9 babies each litter, and place 2-3 babies in each nest they have already constructed. Mothers visit the nests in the same order multiple times each day to care for the young. If one of the nests is falling apart, getting cramped, etc., she carries the babies in her mouth one at a time down the tree and leaves them on the ground. She will then carry them, again one at a time, up to one of the other nests. If you encounter a baby squirrel on the ground (the only rodent in GA with black toenails), gently place it in a box with some grass clippings and leaves and leave the box on the ground. If neighborhood cats are a concern, you can wedge the box in a nearby tree or shrub. Give the mother 4 hours to retrieve the baby. If she has not returned by then, call a licensed small mammal rehabber. Please note that she will not retrieve the baby at night.

Take a look at Part 1 – baby rabbits and turtles – here!

The Mission of the Chattahoochee Nature Center is to connect people with nature. Learn more at www.chattnaturecenter.org.

What to Do if You Find a Baby Animal Part 1

What to Do if You Find a Baby Animal Part 1 Baby Rabbits and Baby Turtles

Written by Wildlife Director, Kathryn Dudeck

Baby Rabbits:

Did you uncover a rabbit nest while cutting your grass? These nests are simply shallow depressions in the ground with dried grasses and rabbit fur lining. Mother rabbits don’t sleep with their young. Instead, they visit them once a day and once a night to nurse, and then cover them back up. If you have accidentally uncovered one, simply put grass clippings back over the nest, and place a tic-tac-toe pattern of yarn over the area. If the yarn is disturbed the next day, the mother has returned and all is well. If it is still in place, contact a licensed small mammal rehabilitator.

If your dog has uncovered the nest, there is a simple way to keep the babies safe. Mother rabbits only enter nests from one side and exit the other. Place a copy paper box upside down over the next, ensuring to cut out the short sides so that she has a clear path in and out. Place bricks or rocks on the box to keep the dog from disturbing it. Please note that mother rabbits do not have “bunny radar” and are unable to locate their nest if it is moved.
If you encounter a baby rabbit whose eyes are open and ears are fully standing up, it is old enough to be on its own.

Baby Turtles:

Turtles and other reptiles in this part of Georgia have no parental care. This means that from the moment they hatch from the egg (turtles and some snakes) or are born (some snakes), they are 100% self-sufficient. Keep in mind that aquatic turtles nest away from water, so you may encounter hatchling sliders, cooters, and snapping turtles on land. Their instinct is to travel downhill to water once they emerge from the nest. You can gently pick them up and carry them to the edge of the creek or pond if their journeys would require crossing busy roads.

Take a look at Part 2 – baby birds and squirrels – here!