Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Roseanna Cunningham addresses the gathering on the vision and international reach of RBGE

The grand achievements of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh over 350 years have been celebrated at a special reception at the Scottish Parliament.

In an evening sponsored by Christine Grahame MSP, within whose constituency the Dawyck Garden sits, the emphasis was on celebrating the Botanics’ national and international achievements and its extraordinary global reach and impact.

Following uplifting addresses from Roseanna Cunningham, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, and Dominic Fry, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, over 200 guests were treated to a fashion show. Parliament’s famous Garden Lobby briefly transformed into a catwalk as second year students of Edinburgh School of Art revealed a magnificent array of fashions inspired by the treasures of the Edinburgh collections.

There was ample opportunity, too, to meet people from across all the organisation’s Divisions and Gardens. Teams from the Library and Herbarium, Education and community engagement, the Regional Gardens as well as the Centre for Middle Eastern Plants, Scotland, Nepal and Tropical experts were on hand to chat and show a fascinating line-up of props. Many of these included items not normally on display to the public, but critical elements of Archives or central to the success of fieldwork. Guests also had the opportunity to learn about the exciting £70m Edinburgh Biomes project to futureproof the Garden’s work for generations to come.

At the heart of the event was a coming together of individuals and organisations to mark the achievements of a great Scottish success story. To take pride in a world leading botanic garden, renowned as a centre of plant research, horticulture, education and public engagement, and four Gardens of great beauty inspiring a million visitors every year.

Lesley Scott with Pinus coulteri native to California and Mexico, the biggest cones of any pine species

Hortus Medicus Edinburgensis, from the Archives