Garden Lights Holiday Nights

By GardenSMART Editors and the Atlanta Botanical Garden
Photographs courtesy of the Atlanta Botanical Garden

The demographics of America are changing. And that is especially true as to who is gardening and where they garden.

Younger folks aren't gardening for various reasons. In the cities, many are living in apartments or condos. In the suburbs, the typical three bedroom, two-bath house on a half-acre lot is less common. All have limited space, certainly less space for plants and a garden. And many younger people haven't been exposed to gardening or the pleasures and benefits of growing plants.

So how do we, as gardeners, introduce these folks to the advantages of gardening? To interest younger people, many public gardens are designing "events" to expose visitors to the drama and beauty of gardening, as well as to highlight new and different ways to enjoy plants.

To this end, the Atlanta Botanical Garden has a terrific winter show entitled "Garden Lights, Holiday Nights." This light show with music began in 2000 and is one of Atlanta's favorite attractions. Although beautiful, from a decorative standpoint it shows visitors unique ways to feature plants. Might it also interest new folks in gardening? We hope.

GardenSMART is devoting an episode to the ABG's fantastic light show. We're filming soon, and the program will air within the next few months. Read more about the light show, below, visit Garden Lights, Holiday Nights at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, and keep tuned to PBS and GardenSMART. We're interested in your opinion about this subject and how we present it within the GardenSMART episode.

Garden Lights, Holiday Nights

Tickets are on sale for Atlanta's favorite holiday tradition, Garden Lights, Holiday Nights, featuring a new twist on the popular three-dimensional curtain of light and the return of many of the giant characters from this summer's Imaginary Worlds: Alice's Wonderland.

Here are five highlights not to miss:

"Nature's Wonders" returns to Storza Woods with its vertically hung strings of multi-colored lights suspended from the treetops over the Canopy Walk. This year's display includes new music, including pop hits as well as holiday tunes, new choreography and sound effects set to more than 70,000 color-changing LED bulbs.

Displays extend to the Skyline Garden, where the Flower Walk will be immersed in an all-white light tunnel leading to the Skylights Lounge, featuring a deejay, cash bars and comfy fireside seating.

Hanging out throughout the Garden will be several creatures from Alice's Wonderland, including the towering White Rabbit and other sculptures, all either wrapped in lights or dramatically uplit.

Those ever-popular dancing "Orchestral Orbs" once again will be holding court on the Great Lawn, along with towering cone trees, giant candles, the serene Ice Goddess, Holiday Model Trains and s'more-roasting firepits.

Garden Lights, Holiday Nights is presented by Invesco QQQ, with the support of the Home Depot Foundation, the Isdell Family Foundation, Georgia Power, Hilton, and Macy's. The show is open from 5 to 11 p.m. nightly through January 11, including Christmas and New Year's. For ticket information and other details, visit atlantabg.org or phone 404-876-5859.

The Garden is located at 1345 Piedmont Ave. NE. Take the hassle out of fighting Midtown traffic and limited onsite parking by taking advantage of a new shuttle system for easier access to the show.

The mission of the Atlanta Botanical Garden is to develop and maintain plant collections for display, education, research, conservation, and enjoyment.

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