Buildings & Grounds

Cherokee Garden Library

Over 32,000 books, photographs, manuscripts, seed catalogs, and landscape drawings.

This hand-colored copperplate engraving of a sunflower by Basilius Besler was published in his seminal work, Hortus Eystettensis, in 1613. One of few crops species that originated in North America, the name sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) comes from the Greek “helios” (sun) and “Anthos” (flower). Historically and today, sunflowers were grown for food, seeds, and oil. A sunflower head can produce up to 1,000 seeds!

Interested in gardening, landscape design, garden history, horticulture, floral design, botanical art, cultural landscapes, natural landscapes, and plant ecology?

Come see over 32,000 books, photographs, manuscripts, seed catalogs, and landscape drawings included in the Cherokee Garden Library collection.

These rare and valuable resources tell the story of horticulture and botanical history in the Southeastern United States and areas of influence throughout America, Europe, and Asia.

Our History

Founded by the Cherokee Garden Club in 1975, the Cherokee Garden Library is a member of the Southern Garden History Society and The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries.

Learn more about the founding of the Cherokee Garden Library.

For even more information about Cherokee Garden Library, please contact Garden Library Director, Staci Catron, at 404.814.4046 or scatron@atlantahistorycenter.com.

Garden Citings. Publication.

Explore stories from the Cherokee Garden Library collection, including collection acquisitions, collection highlights, book conservation projects, garden history narratives, historic landscape documentation, programs, donor recognition, and more.

Fall 2020

Upcoming Virtual Talk

Join us on February 2nd at 7pm as Dr. Doug Tallamy discusses how homeowners everywhere can turn their yards into conservation corridors that provide wildlife habitats.

Register Now

Seeking Eden

Through photographs, postcards, landscape plans, and manuscripts, Seeking Eden highlights the importance of historic gardens in Georgia’s past as well as their value and meaning within the state’s 21st-century communities.

Learn More

Explore. More.

  • Buildings & Grounds

    Goizueta Gardens

    Explore highlights of Southeastern horticultural history by taking in 33 acres of enchanting gardens, woodlands, and trails.

  • Buildings & Grounds

    Kenan Research Center

    Kenan Research Center preserves extensive primary source holdings for the study of Atlanta.

  • Story

    How We Use Vintage Seed Catalogs Today

    Since mail-order seed businesses began, gardeners have poured over catalogs each spring. Our staff uses these resources to select plants for our gardens.