Located on the banks of the Chattahoochee River, the CNC offers a wide variety of natural environments for young and old alike.

The Chattahoochee Nature Center project has been an MGVOCC staple since 2002. Visitors can wander past raptor cages, walk through upland forests, manicured bogs, gardens filled with native plants, and tour the river and wetlands at will. During the average year, over 100,000 adults and children will visit the CNC to take advantage of the educational opportunities, and peace and quiet that the Center provides.

Master Gardeners at the CNC are responsible for a number of items throughout the year. Starting off in the winter months, our staff is busy in the greenhouse propagating plants that will be used in a number of ways during the year. About half of the stock will go towards the plant sales that are held in the spring and fall of each year. A wide variety of native plants (and some not so native) are presented to the public at attractive prices. Master Gardeners staff the sale and provide advice to the purchasers on planting conditions, bloom times, and general plant usage.

Starting in the early spring, the Master Gardener team moves out into the gardens to begin the clean- up from the winter months. This effort usually takes a couple of weeks and then the gardens are ready to receive the rest of the propagated plants from the previous winter. Starting in late spring/early summer the gardens erupt into the colors that do a yeoman’s job of attracting pollinators and hummingbirds through mid-fall. Butterflies will find a selection of both host and nectar plants to meet their needs. Hummingbirds will find nectar sources, and in the fall, the goldfinches and other small birds will feast on the different varieties of sunflowers that are grown in the garden. Summer maintenance gives way to fall activities where our tender perennials are dug up, and moved back to the greenhouse to be used to start the cycle again.

Meeting each Monday at 9am (small adjustments are made on a seasonal basis), the MGVOCC team can be found working in the butterfly garden, in the gardens surrounding the Discovery Center, in the native area by the beaver enclosure, or maintaining the gardens surrounding many of the raptor cages. Lunch-n-Learn presentations are scheduled on a frequent basis, and semi-impromptu lessons are held as well to give team members additional information and some experience of making presentations to a group of people.