Supporting public gardens

I worked as the director of education at a university public garden (without an admission charge) for over two decades.  This was after being the founding director of a native plant garden (donated to our previous university) -- on a shoestring.

I "invented" my job in Clemson  -- the old horticultural gardens were slated for budget cutting about the time I arrived, in a post-hurricane Hugo SC budget, and after I'd already reached out to the Chair of the Dept. of Horticulture, and the Director of the garden at the time.  My hubbie was a new associate professor at Clemson;  we both left tenured jobs at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA, an hour from Savannah.

The chair of the Hort. Dept was a visionary fellow, incredibly gifted, and marshalled fundraising resources to save the Garden's almost 300 acres.  It was a slow process, but effective.  He raised money for our Visitor Center (as a Southern Living Showcase Home -- ugh -- as far as staff involvement.... hey, I didn't sign up for managing 200+ volunteers with my friend Jennifer, but I did get a nice office space eventually).

We also had an old service building repurposed into our Education and Nature Center, which was the foundation of adult and children's programming for my tenure there, thanks to a generous contribution from a couple relocated to Upstate SC from Chicago.

And the South Carolina Botanical Garden has gone on to flourish over the years, marshalling state resources from one-time Extension funding and membership and donor support.

I supported SCBG for all of the time I worked there, as I thought it was important.  I support a few other botanical gardens that I definitely don't visit very often  (NCBG, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden), too.

But I just made a generous donation to the Toronto Botanical Garden.  It's a special place. I remember a magical visit during Fling a few years back.  And a friend from Garden Blogger's Fling (on a Garden-sharing Zoom call) who lives in Toronto, mentioned that their financial situation was staff-critical.

Please give to your special gardens and places in the world as you're able.