Join us for this presentation by John Manion, Curator of the Kaul Wildflower Garden at the Birmingham Botanical Garden.

The Birmingham Botanical Garden has become a center for the study of native plants in the Southeast. Through its Saturday “Introduction to the Study of Native Plants” classes, Certificate in Native Plant Studies program and Native Plant Conference, the Garden’s John Manion has taken the lead in growing Alabama’s native plant awareness and appreciation.

Though born in Georgia, John spent his youth growing up in rural upstate NY. He has lived in many places in the U.S. and abroad and after working in several careers, he realized his true passion was for plants. After earning an undergraduate degree in plant science at SUNY Cobleskill, he was awarded a fellowship to earn a Master’s Degree in Public Garden Leadership at Cornell University. He has interned and worked at several botanical gardens and arboreta, including the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh, Scotland. After working as Historic Gardens Curator at the Atlanta History Center, he assumed his present position as Kaul Wildflower Garden Curator at Birmingham Botanical Gardens in Alabama, where he has been for six years.