Out of his love and dedication to the preservation of native plants of the Southeast, George Sanko, established the DeKalb College Botanical Garden in the spring of 1990. Several years later, the garden name was changed to The Georgia Perimeter College Native Plant Botanical Garden. In 2016 Georgia Perimeter College and Georgia State University merged, creating Georgia State University Perimeter College Native Plant Botanical Garden. Through propagation and years of rescue missions to save plants indigenous to the Southeast, the Native Plant Garden thrives today so that others may enjoy the beauty of these plants. Our garden is also known as the Wildflower Center of Georgia, it has the largest collection of native plants in Georgia.
A number of years ago the garden was expanded and added the Ferns of the World area. This section comprises possibly the the largest selection of ferns in the US and maybe the world. In addition, there are also xeric beds which have Georgia native ferns and ferns from southwestern US. Many of these ferns were displayed at the GPC Botanical entry at the 2007 Southeastern Flower Show. These ferns have proven they will survive in Atlanta. Good drainage is required to minimize the effects from rainy periods.