THOMASVILLE- The Garden Club of Georgia, Inc. Camellia District held its annual meeting on Thursday, where they welcomed guest speaker Jennifer Cruse-Sanders, the Director of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

Cruse-Sanders has a M.S. and Ph.D in Botany from the University of Georgia, and she completed her B.A. in Biology at Boston University. She is the recipient of the 2016 Marsh Award for International Plant Conservation from Botanic Garden Conversation International, the 2016 Carl N. Becker Stewardship Award from the Natural Areas Association, and the 2015 USDA Forest Service, Wings Across America International Award for Urban Communities in Conservation.

Now the Director of the State Botanical Garden, a 323-acre university garden, that contains 33 acres of cultivated gardens and more than five miles of trails, Cruse-Sanders is overseeing the newest addition to the Botanical Garden, the Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum.

“In creating this new museum, we received over 1,000 items that display nature as she has been interpreted across the centuries,” Cruse-Sanders said.

The museum contains objects dating from the 16th to the 21st centuries, including works by noted artists Pierre-Joseph Redoute, Dorothy Doughty, Diane Lewis, and Trailer McQuilkin.

Cruse-Sanders discussed some of the various works during her presentation to the club, showcasing the connection between art and nature.

The upstairs of the museum features a hot beverage exhibit, introducing the public to the fascinating history of how tea, coffee, and chocolate were introduced into homes, eventually leading to the creation of porcelain containers and pots to serve the delicacies.

Many of the porcelain pieces on display belong to longtime patron Deen Day Sanders, whose collections represent nearly half a century of avid interest in fine porcelain.

“Her collection is exquisite,” Cruse-Sanders said. “It’s world-class.”

When exiting the hot beverage exhibit, guests of the State Botanical Garden can find themselves immersed in the Georgia room, where they will find some of Lewis’ work on display.

Lewis began her career at the famous Royal Worcester factory as a trainee flower maker in 1953. She later moved on, becoming a senior flower designer, making flowers by hand for attachment to original sculptures.

From 1959-1965, her reputation grew, and she began working on a series of birds with renowned artist Doughty.

After her stint with Doughty, Lewis opened her factory, Connosisseur, with her husband, Terry in the 1970’s. It was there she created a wildflower collection with former first lady, Ladybird Johnson.

“Her porcelain can be found in some of the finest homes all over the world, and here it is- one of the largest collections of Diane Lewis’ porcelain for free to be seen by the world,” Sanders-Cruse said.

The works of Lewis are only some of the many that can be found in the museum.

Copper wildflowers are also on display, created by McQuilkin.

“He does an exquisite job,” Cruse-Sanders said, showing slides of McQuilkin’s work. “He even has holes in the leaves, where the insects got into the leaves. You must see them in person to see how incredible they are. On one of them, you can even see the hairs of the padded leaf that he has added.”

Other incredible works on display include dinner, luncheon, bread, and butter plates from Royal Copenhagen’s Flora Danica collection.

“The original Flora Danica collection was created in the late 1700s by a botanist,” Cruse-Sanders said. “It took over 120 years to finish.”

Cruse-Sanders went on to explain the name of the collection.

“Flora is the name of a catalog or encyclopedia of plants that grow in the area,” she said. “These were botanists researching the native plants of Denmark, so Flora of Denmark or Flora Danica has exquisite scientific illustration.”

Later, the royal family of Denmark would commission Royal Copenhagen to craft an entire set of porcelain with illustrations from Flora Danica on it.

“These are some of the most expensive pieces of porcelain in the world,” Cruse-Sanders said. “What’s so neat about the Flora Danica collection is it contains the scientific name on the back.”

The final pieces of art inspired by nature were the series of birds Doughty created.

“She began this North American bird collection, designing this series of birds from her apartment in Cornwall,” Cruse-Sanders said.

During this time, Doughty visited North America twice, once in 1953 and once in 1956.

Cruse-Sanders said she suspects Doughty had a photographic memory, as she recorded her memories in vivid detail in a book to accompany the bird collection.

“These bird sculptures really help us appreciate nature in the garden,” Cruse-Sanders said. “We can look to them and through them to imagine the birds in the garden.”

Cruse-Sanders said these works are only snippets of the numerous works that can be found at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

Following Cruse-Sanders’ rousing presentation on the artwork, a business session was held. During the session, all four garden clubs of Thomasville received the Standard of Excellence Award for the 2023 year from the state of Georgia. Additionally, the Thomasville Garden Club, Inc. received a Standard of Excellence Award from the council.