Chattooga Gardens, Hwy 107 South, P.O. Box 1488, Cashiers, NC 28717 (828) 743-1062
Dave Dodson joined the gardencenter in 2007 as general manager and the place would not run without him! His wife Robin helps us out sometimes too.
Jodie Zahner is our floral designer, photographer and web master. She has a masters degree in horticulture from Clemson, and is a member emeritae of the Laurel Garden Club. One of her community projects is an educational raingarden at the Highlands Performance Art Center that features native plants. She designed our garden that took "Best in Show" at the 2004 Southeast Flower Show. One of her favorite projects was designing the flower borders for Headwaters Golf Course. She also loves to sing, dance and make music.
Jeff Zahner also has a degree from Clemson in horticulture. He is well known for his knowledge of plant materials, particularly natives. Jeff enjoys rescuing plants from construction sites as well as propogating rare plants including Oconee Bells (Shortia galacifolia) at our home nursery. Jeff is the secretary for the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, on the Cashiers Community Planning Council, and is on the steering committee as the field trip coordinator for the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference held each July at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. We also support the Highlands Biological Station through the plant auction at the Highlands Native Plant Conference in September.
Anya (above right) is Jodie's special assistant, and Zoe (top photo in Jodie's arms) is Jeff's special assistant. Look for more photos of our staff, pets, gardens and customers as the season progresses.
Your patronage of Chattooga Gardens also helps support our garden and growing area in Highlands, on land which has been in the Zahner family since the 1930's. Our ridge top garden at 4,000 feet elevation is a great place to determine if a plant is truly hardy here!.
We are named Chattooga Gardens because we are located on the headwaters of the Chattooga River. We proudly support The Chattooga Conservancy's efforts to protect the wild and scenic beauty of the Chattooga River.