JARS 49n3 - Holsomback Garden Lives On At Arboretum

Holsomback Garden Lives On At Arboretum

The Louise and Olin Holsomback rhododendron and azalea garden near the Chickamauga Battlefield in Georgia that was lost to a new road has a new home at the Reflection Riding arboretum at nearby Lookout Mountain.

The Holsombacks, who had collected native azaleas and other rhododendrons since World War II for their 5-acre farm, had moved some 100 plants to their new home in Ringgold, Ga. Many other plants were given to friends, but many others remained in the path of bulldozers scheduled to move in by July 1994. When Reflection Riding requested the remaining plants, the Holsombacks agreed. More than 120 plants were moved to their new home, 50 of them on a hillside leading up to an old log cabin. The area has been named the Olin Holsomback Garden.

In March the garden was dedicated "in appreciation of Olin and Louise Holsomback's labors of love."