From the TBG

Hearts and Flowers Campaign needs your support

The Golden Age of botanical gardens is just around the corner, or so it’s been said many times. I’ve said it myself and believe it fervently, but no one ever said that getting there would be easy.

You would think the golden age had already arrived, judging by our parking lot this year. Toronto Botanical Garden became the inspiration and refuge for a deluge of visitors during these hazardous times.

With greatly diminished revenues and financial resources, we focused on garden excellence. TBG’s new Board of Directors is determined to advance our commitment to our botanical garden mission. And with the arrival of Roger Gettig to lead our horticultural team, the gardens will develop to their full aesthetic and conservation potential.

As always, we can’t do this without you. But we had help from an unusual source this year–namely three highly unusual government grants. Cultural organizations would have withered on the vine during the pandemic without these grants–in our case, perhaps quite literally. For a so-called golden age of botanical gardens, we have been operating under severe financial restraint. But thanks to the grants and your support, we are still here.

Hearts and Flowers is our annual end-of-year appeal for the donations that fund this unique bit of paradise. It’s always a nail-biter as we wait to see if our little nonprofit will balance its budget. Please consider supporting the Hearts and Flowers campaign before Dec. 31 with an online donation, or old-style with a cheque. We are counting on you as never before.

This is my last report to you as one-time Executive Director, Garden Director responsible for our expansion, and now (back from the briefest of retirements) as Interim ED. I couldn’t be more excited by the prospect of passing a baton of excellence to our incoming Executive Director.

Thank you.

Harry Jongerden, Interim Executive Director