Retired Georgia Perimeter College professor George Sanko, creator of GPC’s Native Plant Botanical Gardens, was honored by the college with a certificate of appreciation on April 22 during a special celebration of the 25th anniversary of the garden. The event was held in the Decatur Campus garden.

Sanko was modest about the award. “I was the catalyst for the garden,” he said. “But all the ingredients were supplied by the students and volunteers who made it happen.”

Dozens of people turned out on the sunshine-filled Earth Day for a cookout, raffle and special tours of the garden by gardening experts. Also attending the event was Dr. Jim Weyhenmyer, Georgia State University’s vice president of research and economic development, and Dr. Dabney Dixon, Georgia State’s chemistry professor and STEM programs coordinator. Both expressed appreciation for the garden and looked forward to being a part of the garden’s future as part of a consolidated GPC/Georgia State institution.

Sanko, who is now 81, has been associated with Georgia Perimeter College for almost half a century. He served as a botany professor for 25 years, retired from full-time work in 1989 and then taught part-time. When he left the classroom, he began volunteering—applying his hours and energy toward clearing what is now the garden land.

The property—two thirds of which is in a flood plain—was a wasteland of overgrowth and trash. Sanko, aided by students and other volunteers, has spent the past 25 years shaping that property into the GPC’s Native Plant Botanical Garden.

The garden will have a plant sale Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., as well as more garden talks. For information, go to www.gpcnativegarden.org