Who we are
We are the Friends of the Botanical Gardens, Sheffield. We host garden events and demonstrations, raise money to fund garden projects, and volunteer in the gardens to maintain and improve the plant collections. New faces are always welcome. Join us in the beautiful Botanical Gardens.
Cameos of some of our Friends
Discover why people become Friends of the Gardens - and what they’ve gained from joining us.
Lucy
I'm a newbie, as I only joined the Friends in September 2019. I've always loved plants and gardens and I think there's something special about being surrounded by fellow enthusiasts - especially when they have 20, 30, even 40 years more experience than you and are happy to share it. I love the lecture series and that has really opened my eyes to a whole range of topics that never get covered in gardening tv shows or magazines.
The speakers are really passionate about their particular niche of the botanical world and pull you in to impart their zeal. At home I enjoy getting my 4 year old son involved in the garden, he loves the fruit and veg that we grow and eat together and even has his own hop plant that he grew from a cutting. My plant obsession is shade-loving flowering plants and through the Friends I have learnt that I'm not limited to woodland plants but can even have an alpine bed in the shade which is my current garden project.
Rod
I joined the Friends in 2013 at my wife Caroline’s suggestion. I had met the photographer Meg Jullien at the first Art In The Gardens and we became better acquainted when some of my images were selected for card merchandise. This inspired me to become more involved with what the Gardens had to offer. Caroline & I then designed the new Pavilion display boards and keep them updated with seasonal changes and events, including the Plant of the Month feature from the website.
This led to monthly visits to the Gardens and taking pictures of whatever happened to be in bloom at the time which has now been useful for ‘News Shoots’. I have enjoyed this and been surprised by the wealth of (to me!) new species. Also being asked to document on-going projects such as the Kohns’ South African Bed and Sue Spells’ Scree Garden has been an eye-opener. Being a member has also led to my attendance at selected talks, the wide selection of speakers broadening my knowledge. At home Caroline is the gardener but I keep the lawns and hedges trimmed and any heavy lifting that is asked of me!
Jo
I joined the Friends last September as I wanted to increase my horticultural knowledge and widen my experience following completion of a level 3 City and Guilds floristry course. I have not looked back since. I have attended talks on garden design, had a go at sowing seeds, participated in a zoom session about South African plants and persuaded my Mum to become a member.
I am interested in growing shrubs, herbaceous perennials and roses. We have a small wildlife garden that includes a pond and some fabulous plants from the Friends plant sales e.g Liatris spicata, Astrantia major and Iris reticulata. At the time of writing I am eagerly awaiting the first Delphinium flower, as long as a juicy slug does not consume it first.
Alison
It was January 2000 when I joined the Friends, having recently returned to this country after spending 10 years in Wyoming – a very frustrating place to be a gardener being a semi-desert region with a short growing season. I was made to feel very welcome, particularly by Sue Kohler and Arroll Winning, and joined the volunteers working in the Gardens. In 2006 I was elected to the committee as Newsletter Editor and volunteered to write a short history of the Gardens – that was the start of something of an obsession!
I initiated the website for the Friends in 2010. I have absorbed a lot of botanical and horticultural knowledge painlessly by working alongside some very knowledgeable people. As historian I have thoroughly enjoyed researching various archives and adding to our knowledge of the Gardens. As an author and a speaker it’s been gratifying to be able share that information with the Friends and with other organisations.
We are a community association, run by an Executive Committee elected by Friends each year.
We’re supported by subscriptions from Friends, fund-raising and donations.
We’re always looking for help with Friends activities, from serving on our Executive Committee or running garden tours, to organising trips and visits or making tea for our events! Contact our chair on chair.fobs@gmail.com if you’d like to get involved and support any of our activities.
Our current executive is:
Sue Kohler (president), Carolyn Clark (chair), Peter Kohn (deputy chair), Dave Darwent (treasurer), Rene May (membership secretary), Lynda Price (executive secretary), plus board members Roger England, Lorraine Milne, Barbara Plant, Jill Sinclair, Lloyd Snellgrove and Brenda Zinober.
The 2024 executive committee: Carolyn Clark (chair), Alison Hunter (trustee rep), Rene May (membership secretary), Jill Sinclair, Barbara Plant, Lorraine Milne, Brenda Zinober, Lloyd Snellgrove, Dave Darwent (treasurer), Sue Kohler (president). Missing: Peter Kohn (deputy chair), Lynda Price (executive secretary), Roger England.