March 31, 2023

Dear Garden Supporters:

Well, spring is finally here – at least according to the calendar! And while it will be a few more weeks before it looks and feels like spring in the Garden, the staff is busy working on a number of new projects for your enjoyment.

One of these is Garden Conversations at Weldon’s Museum Hill Café. “Garden Conversations” is designed to give you an opportunity to interact with a special guest speaker at breakfast followed by an activity in the Garden. Each “Garden Conversations” is limited to 35 participants and is sponsored by Weldon’s Museum Hill Café. Our first program will be April 28th so be sure to check our website for more information and to purchase tickets.

We are excited to announce a new art exhibition will be installed in the Garden in April: Piñon Country: Illuminating the Interdependence of Life in the Iconic Woodland of the Arid West, by photojournalist and nature photographer Christina M. Selby. The exhibition opens with a reception on Saturday, April 29th . There also will be a presentation by Christina and Katherine Ware, Curator of Photography at the New Mexico Museum of Art, on Thursday, April 27th at the Santa Fe Woman’s Club and a “Garden Conversations” on Friday, April 28th . Please check the Garden’s website to purchase tickets for these events.

We also have initiated “Members First Ticket Sales” as a benefit of Garden membership. Members will now have 2-3 days to purchase tickets for most Garden events before they are available for purchase by non-members. So, if you are not a member please consider joining to take advantage of this and all the other benefits of membership.

2023 is a big year for us! It marks the 10-year anniversary of the Garden’s opening on Museum Hill! The theme for the year is “Growing Traditions: Celebrating a Decade on Museum Hill,” and there is much to celebrate – our accomplishments of the past ten years are truly remarkable. The Garden has grown from the vision of a dedicated group of volunteers and donors into what it is today. Over the past ten years the Garden has:

  • Grown to almost 19 acres.
  • Raised more than $7 million for the design, development and installation of the Orchard Gardens and the Ojos y Manos: Eyes and Hands Gardens.
  • Developed an exceptional and diverse curated plant collection.
  • Opened the Piñon Juniper Woodland section of the Garden.
  • Become a destination for out-of-town visitors and the citizens of Santa Fe and northern New Mexico.

None of this would have happened without the generous financial support of our members and friends. So please hold the dates of June 15-17th, 2023 for some special events to celebrate this milestone for the Garden.

And last, but definitely not least, in January the Garden submitted a request to the Legislature for $600,000 in capital outlay funding for the construction of restrooms (connected to the sewer) in the Garden. I am very pleased to report that the New Mexico House and Senate passed HB505 (Capital Outlay Projects funding) and the entire $600,000 for our restroom project was included in the bill! The bill is awaiting signing by Governor Lujan Grisham. We are especially indebted to Senator Peter Wirth and Representative Reena Szczepanski, among many others, for their support of the Garden’s request.

These are exciting times and I look forward to seeing you in the Garden now that it is Spring!

Best wishes and thank you for your continued support.

David A. Young, Ph.D.
Executive Director

PS: Starting April 1st the Garden will be open seven (7) days from 9 am to 5 pm. through October, and be sure to check out the new SFBG branded aluminum reusable water bottles for sale in the Visitors Center.