The Southern Garden History Society was formed in May 1982 under the direction of Flora Ann Bynum, William Lanier Hunt and John B. Flowers, as an outgrowth of the series of Restoring Southern Gardens and Landscapes conferences held biennially in Winston-Salem, NC. The Society was established in order "to stimulate interest in Southern garden and landscape history, in historical horticulture, and in the preservation and restoration of historic gardens and landscapes in the South" and is the first regional garden history society in the United States. The Society continues to cosponsor the Restoring Southern Gardens and Landscapes conferences as well as holding annual meetings each spring in different areas of the Southeast to exchange ideas and to study the landscapes and gardens in that particular region. A quarterly bulletin, Magnolia, is published by the Society to share news, projects and activities, and to provide conference summaries and book reviews. In 2001, the Society sponsored the translation and publication of The New Louisiana Gardener (Nouveau Jardinier de la Louisiane), by Sally Kittredge Reeves, originally published in 1838 by Jacques-Felix Lelièvre. The Society also jointly compiled Southern Plant Lists with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, which provides information on plants used from the colonial period through the early twentieth century.
From the description of Southern Garden History Society Records, 1980- (Atlanta History Center). WorldCat record id: 681323270
