Native Plants
National Organizations Directory
As a service to the public, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center collects information on native plant societies, conservation groups, governmental agencies, botanical gardens, arboreta, and other plant-related organizations throughout North America. Click here to add your organization to the directory. Affiliates are organizations that partner with the Wildflower Center to encourage the preservation and use of native plants in different regions of the country.
The Southern Highlands Reserve
Address: 558 Summit Ridge Road
Lake Toxaway, NC 28747
Region: Southeast
Phone: 828-885-2050
Web: www.southernhighlandsreserve.org
Organization Scope: State/Regional
Organization Type: Botanic Garden
Services this organization provides
- Work on restoration projects
- Natural habitat management
- Wildflower or native habitat display on property
- Conducts research
- Provide educational programming
- Offer public programs, trips, seminars, etc.
- Propagate native plants
Native Plant Focus: The Southern Highlands Reserve property is actively under conservation easement where we work to protect the ecosystems present in the higher elevations of the Southern Appalachia that occur on our property. Specifically, we propagate azaleas native to the region and Red Spruce for regional restoration activities.
Description: The Southern Highlands Reserve is a non-profit native plant arboretum and research center located at an elevation of 4,500 feet in Lake Toxaway, North Carolina. It was founded by Robert and Betty Balentine in 2003, and occupies two distinct areas under conservation easement, the Core Park and Natural Woodlands. The Reserve plays host to a vast array of naturally occurring native plant communities within Spray Cliff, Montane Cliff, Chestnut Oak and High Elevation Red Oak Forest ecosystems. The Core Park comprises our research and education center in the Chestnut Lodge, and the 20-acre highly manicured display gardens planted with native species and their cultivars. It is surrounded by a 100-acre natural woodland that is managed to maintain wildlife habitat, conservation, and ecological connectivity between the two areas. Throughout the Core Park, the Reserve demonstrates how plants native to the Southern Appalachian Mountains can be used in a managed landscape setting. The Southern Highlands Reserve's mission is dedication to support and sustain the natural ecosystems of the Blue Ridge Mountains through the preservation, cultivation and display of plants native to the region and by advocating for the value of these fragile ecosystems through education, restoration and research.
Last Update: 2014-02-21
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