ANNUAL REPORT
A Celebration of Friendship at the Gardens Since 1962, Birmingham Botanical Gardens has served as a cherished place of respite, a meaningful connection to nature, and a vibrant source of plant, gardening, wellness, and environmental education thanks to your ongoing commitment to this invaluable community resource. We extend our sincere gratitude to all who support our mission through donations, event sponsorships, memberships, honorary and memorial tributes, planned giving, and gifts to specific programs. Thank you for helping us grow a greener tomorrow.
A facility of Birmingham Park and Recreation Board, Birmingham Botanical Gardens is the result of a public/private partnership between the City of Birmingham and the nonprofit Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens. For nearly 60 years, the City and the Friends have worked side by side to fulfill the Gardens’ mission. Funding from the City covers many of the Gardens’ core, day-to-day operating expenses. Thanks to your generous support, the Friends has the capacity to offer a broad range of programs that inform, inspire, and enrich our community. Your contributions also enable the Friends to play a critical role in supplementing the Gardens’ operational needs and ensuring the ongoing stewardship and enhancement of this beloved community treasure.
Operating Revenue $2,479,032
Operating Expenses $2,431,009
GARDENS
EVENTS
EDUCATION MEMBERSHIPS
MEMBERSHIP, COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING
Source: Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens actual, unaudited financial statements for the 12 months January through December 2022. Operating revenue does not include investment activity and reflects several generous donor-designed gifts with multiyear impact.
FUNDRAISING, MEMBERSHIP & VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHTS
Antiques at the Gardens, the Friends’ largest fundraiser of the year, exceeded its goal for 2022, making it one of the most successful Antiques shows to date. On September 29, the Friends’ 2022 Gala in the Gardens kicked off the 16th-annual Antiques at the Gardens presented by First Horizon Bank and featuring the show’s first textile sponsor, Sister Parish Design. Led by 2022 co-chairs Anna Cooper, Catherine Pringle, and Mark Thompson and a committee of 150 dedicated volunteers, the four-day event featured talks by 12 nationally acclaimed interior designers, floral designers, architects, landscape architects, and furniture designers, as well as 22 celebrated antiques dealers from across the country.
The Friends’ Junior Board raised more than $10,000 for the Friends’ summer Native Plant internship through sponsorships, ticket sales, and in-kind support for our inaugural Rosé in the Roses.
The Friends expanded annual member households by 9% through on-site and virtual membership drives including piloting a new Membership Month initiative in March. An impressive array of local nurseries, garden centers, and flower shops lend their support with participation in our member partner discount program.
Our volunteer program increased service hours by 13% over 2021 as we continue to leverage volunteer passions and skills to support the Gardens and all that this inspiring green space makes possible.
Protecting the Gardens’ Wonders
The Friends continued to support the ongoing care and maintenance of the Gardens by working to bridge the gap between limited City funding and the Gardens’ operational needs. Examples of garden support made possible by the Friends during 2022 include turf care and water feature maintenance, the purchase of plugs for bedding plants and pine straw mulch for garden beds, and many renovation and upgrade projects throughout the Gardens.
During the first half of 2022, the Kaul Wildflower Garden benefited from in a vigorous process of editing its planting areas by removing a significant amount of invasive or undesirable trees and shrubs. Guided by a garden management plan developed in concert with noted landscape architect Thomas Rainer, this preparatory work paved the way for an eagerly awaited planting phase that began in the fall of 2022, which saw the addition of 106 native trees and shrubs to the garden. In addition, several exciting new projects were initiated, including the creation of inviting flagstone overlooks and replacement of rotting wood timber steps with beautiful stone stairsteps throughout the garden, as well as the start of an “Oak-Pine Savanna” habitat project, aimed at establishing an open grassland ecosystem.
In 2022, our Gardens Support team undertook new ventures in the Southern Living Garden aimed at further developing the collection. During the spring, they devoted their efforts to completely mapping the existing garden to scale, generating a basemap in AutoCAD to guide their design efforts. They established a partnership with the Plant Development Services Inc., who supplied all the plant material for the upcoming redesign of the Southern Living Plant Collection Border, scheduled for installation in the spring of 2023. The team also continued to enhance existing plantings by adding layers of seasonal interest, including the planting of almost 2,000 tulip bulbs.
In addition to these significant garden projects, the Friends coordinated an on-site consultation with landscape architect Harriet Henderson focused on proposed Japanese Garden projects and enhancements. Based in the Philadelphia area, Harriet studied Japanese Garden design in Kyoto, Japan, and is an authority on Asian gardens. She is a frequent lecturer at such distinguished horticultural institutions as Longwood Gardens, the Morris Arboretum, and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
The sculpture collection at the Gardens was expanded with two new sculptures by Cordray Parker: Untitled in the Fern Glade Garden and Encounter in the Crape Myrtle Garden. These works were generously gifted by the artist’s wife, Loni Parker, and join Cordray’s existing work located in the Hill Garden, titled Nike
Nurturing the Gardens’ Wonders
The Friends collaborated with Huntsville Botanical Garden and Bellingrath Gardens and Home on developing professional workshops to support elementary school teachers as they work to implement STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics) themed lessons in their classrooms. In addition, the three gardens designed a STEM for Kids series to engage K–6th grade students. All sessions were scheduled to pilot in 2023.
Designed to promote a love of reading, creativity, and gardening, the Friends initiated a free, weekly Storytime at the Gardens for preschool-age children and their caregivers. Offering a welcome alternative to screen time, Storytime offers the added benefits of visiting the Gardens and being outdoors.
The Friends continued its efforts to cultivate the next generation of horticulturists and plant scientists by hosting two college interns with an interest in public gardens during summer 2022. The program combines hands-on experience, specially arranged field trips, and the opportunity to pursue an independent research project related to their interests. Our Rotary Club of Shades Valley Intern researched propagation methods of the critically endangered Tutwiler’s Spleenwort (Asplenium tutwilerae), one of the eastern USA’s rarest species of ferns. Our Native Plant Intern studied the techniques of fungiculture, creating and installing a demonstration area of “mushroom logs.”
The Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens has earned a 2023 Platinum Seal of Transparency with Candid. View our nonprofit profile: guidestar.org/profile/63-0495111
Year after year, your dedication and support allow us to fulfill our mission: to protect, nurture, and share the wonders of Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Because of your commitment, the Friends achieved these milestones in 2022.
