The Garden's Impact | Fall 2023

The Garden's Impact

Only with your generous support, can Santa Barbara Botanic Garden ensure biodiversity thrives along the central coast so our community and future generations can flourish. Here’s a peek into some of the progress we’ve made this past year!

2.9M Seeds

Our Conservation Seed Bank safeguards nearly 3,000,000 seeds, protecting 305 rare species from extinction.

1,400

Native plants being planted at Elings Park as part of our new initiative to revitalize public gardens and open spaces in Santa Barbara Country.

974 Taxa

Our Living Collection has 974 unique native species, subspecies, and cultivars.

1934

The year the oldest specimen in our Living Collection records, a bigcone Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga macrocarpa), was planted.

19-hours

California Native Plant Landscaper Certification program is revolutionizing how landscapes around California homes and businesses are maintained.

110,000

Visitors from around the world experienced the wonder and beauty of California’s native plants at the Garden, selling out our county-issued attendance cap for the year.

10,000 Hours

Nearly 300 volunteers support our education, conservation, and horticulture teams throughout the year, driving our mission forward.

211,000

The number of unique specimens of California’s plants, lichen, and fungus currently in our Clifton Smith Herbarium continues to grow. The Garden is home to the second largest collection of lichens in the U.S.

After 26 Years

We restored healthy populations of the Santa Cruz Island dudleya (Dudleya nesiotica) resulting in it being removed from the federal endangered species list.

55+ Contracts

With 23 scientists on staff, a seed bank, a genetics lab, and more than 55 active contracts with local and national partners, we’re a conservation powerhouse creating a better future by harnessing the power of native plants.

11,405 Samples

The Garden’s Tissue Bank contains more than 11,000 DNA samples representing 120 plant families and 465 genera. Helping us better identify and protect rare plants.

250

Campers and their families created new memories at Summer Camp in the Garden and left inspired to become our next stewards for the planet.