The rare and beautiful Cahaba Lily, also known as the “shoal lily,” is an aquatic flowering plant native to the major river systems of Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. Now the lily is being re-introduced into the Chattahoochee River near Columbus.
Native plant expert Jim Rodgers will discuss the program to bring these lovely plants back to the Chattahoochee at the May Coweta County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers’ Backyard Association Meeting. The free lecture, “Lilaceous Gone Wild,” will be held Tuesday, May 10, at UGA Extension – Coweta County, 255 Pine Road in Newnan.
A type of spiderlily belonging to the amaryllis family, the Cahaba lily (Hymenocallis coronaria) is noted for the striking beauty of its three-inch-wide white flowers. The plant requires a very specialized habitat—swift-flowing water over rocks and lots of sun—and is found in shoal areas at or above the fall line. But human activities – including logging and damming rivers – threaten the survival of the Cahaba lily.
Rodgers, well-known for his expertise in plants native to Georgia, specializes in southeastern native plants for all types of landscapes at his Nearly Native Nursery in Fayetteville.
The Backyard Association is an educational program sponsored by the Coweta County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers (MGEVs). Presentations are held on the second Tuesday of each month at UGA Extension – Coweta County.
Admission to the 7 p.m. lecture is free, and you need not register in advance to attend unless you want to be registered for the door prizes, usually plants and other gardening goodies. Please call the Extension office at 770-254-2620 to register.
For more information about the MGEV program, visit www.ugaextension.org/coweta.
