By the Numbers | Santa Barbara Botanic Garden's Impact

Through your generous support, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden inspires and empowers everyone to cultivate biodiversity — both locally and beyond — so we can restore the health of the planet, one seed at a time.

2.9M Seeds

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

22,443

This number of native plants sold at the Garden Nursery continues to provide vital habitat across California.

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.

1861

The oldest specimen, cowbag clover (Trifolium depauperatum var. truncatum), was added to our Clifton Smith Herbarium by W. Brewer 161 years ago.

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.

8,600 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.

March 16, 1926

Thanks to Anna Dorinda Blaksley Bliss’ generous donation, the Garden was able to preserve this space and open its doors to the public, inspiring generations through 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.

59%

This is the percentage of species endemic to the Channel Islands now included in our Living Collection. This makes the Garden one of the only places, besides the islands, you can see them.