Nancy, the Athens area is chock full of unique nurseries. And UGA has its College of Horticulture. On campus are the phenomenal UGA Trial Gardens. Think that once you get to Athens you'll find the local clubs. The Garden Clubs of GA have their HQ there.

Clay soil: you'll come to love it.

Clay soil: you'll come to love it.
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Only after years and years of amending it so you can work in it in the wet early spring and middle of summer when it gets hard as a rock if not properly amended.

Nancy,

You can glean a lot of knowledge by reading some of the articles in the link below. It isn't a cake walk, but when you look at the lushness in Athens and my area north of Atlanta,plus plus, you'll COME TO LOVE IT. Ha. There, I've said it again. Have been gardening in this soil type for over 30 years. It can be a PIB as yolos says, but there are solutions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Benefits of gardening in red clay soils