The Botanics Foundation was delighted to receive a $100,000 gift from the American Friends of the Botanics Foundation who visited the Garden with a number of guests in June as part of their 2025 Scottish Gardens Tour.
The American Friends of the Botanics Foundation (AFBF) has been supporting the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh since its formation in 2023 and has now extended its generosity and commitment to the mission with this latest gift.
Providing communications, engagement and a vehicle for philanthropy for friends and supporters of the Botanics based in the United States, the AFBF has used its donations to support the Garden’s Herbarium and Archives, contributing towards important work to protect and digitise the Garden’s preserved collections.
Commenting on the gift during the visit to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in June, Liza Gilbert, Chair of the AFBF said: “It has been gratifying to return to the Garden to see first-hand the impact our supporters are making here through their donations. The collections are invaluable, and the work the Garden is doing to support international knowledge sharing and conservation efforts through digitization has great global significance. I’m delighted we have reached such a key milestone in our support of this impactful work to safeguard botanical knowledge.”
The visit occurred as part of a week-long tour of gardens and organisations of scenic beauty across Scotland, including Balmoral Castle, where RBGE-alumna and former Herbaceous Supervisor Kirsty Wilson is Head Gardener. Simon Milne, Regius Keeper of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, who hosted the visit to the Garden alongside the Chair, Dominic Fry, added:
“The impact philanthropy makes here is simply transformative. It enables us to be ambitious, to scale our projects and our impact, and to engage more people across the world in our mission to explore, conserve, and explain the world of plants. We are grateful to the Directors of the American Friends of the Botanics Foundation for their support and were delighted to host them here to celebrate together.”
Main image L-R: Lorna Stoddart, AFBF Director; Simon Milne MBE, Regius Keeper of RBGE; Charlotte Van Doren, AFBF Director; Liza Gilbert, AFBF Chair; Mary Emerson, AFBF Executive Director and Assistant Secretary; Dominic Fry, Chair of RBGE.