Friends of the Garden

Founded in 1976, the Friends of the Garden (“FOGs”) is a group of UBC Botanical Garden volunteers. FOGs are dedicated to assisting the Garden in maintaining its position as a valued member of the University community and strengthening its reputation nationally and internationally as a centre for horticultural and botanical garden research and education. Comprising about 160 active members, FOGs assist in the planning and execution of Botanical Garden events, operating the Shop in the Garden and Garden Centre, and playing a critical role in fundraising and generating new memberships. Being a FOG is more than just volunteering, it’s a commitment to the mission of the garden, and to ensuring that the garden remains a sanctuary for the preservation of native and global biodiversity now and into the future.

What we do

In keeping with our mission to increase the profile of the garden, FOGs organize and support important events at the Garden throughout the year, including the Treasured Bulb Sale in September, and the very popular Apple Festival in October.

FOGs also run the Shop in the Garden, raise thousands of unusual plants for sale, staff a Hortline service to answer gardening questions, provide guides for tours of the Garden and Nitobe Memorial Garden, organize the garden library and mount specimens for the herbarium.

The FOGs’ weekly Wednesday meetings include a Show & Tell by a senior Garden Curator, walks in the Garden and a wide range of speakers.

In December the FOGs work with a vast selection of plants collected from the Botanical Garden by the Garden Staff to produce a spectacular range of holiday decorations available in the Shop in the Garden.

This is just a sampling of FOG activities and new ideas are constantly being explored.

Join the FOGs

Limited to 160 active members, each year new FOGs take part in an orientation and training session and costs $75.00. Annual dues of $50.00 are paid by all members and include membership in UBC Botanical Garden. Community awareness, willingness to work with others, dedication, and a positive attitude are a few of the many traits that embody the spirit of the Friends of UBC Botanical Garden.

Becoming a Friend of the Garden requires a significant commitment of time and energy but has great benefits, such as guest lecturers, field trips and unlimited access to the Garden and its facilities.

Interested in joining? Fill out our FOG application form. Please contact us at garden.fogs@ubc.ca if you have any questions.

Not enough time to be a FOG?

If you can only make occasional contributions of time to the Garden, there are a number of volunteer opportunities available. If you have a few hours per week to commit or the ability to help with the occasional weekend event, we’re interested in hearing from you!

You can also support the garden by becoming a garden member. More information is available in our membership section.

: FOG Harvest

: FOG Harvest

: FOG Harvest

: FOG Tours

: Harvest

: FOG Garlic Harvest

: At the 2019 President’s Tea, FOGs enjoy a social occasion in the Garden’s Reception centre.

: FOGs handcraft annual wreaths for 2020. Photo by Diane Donaldson.

: FOG Wayfinder

: Our fantastic Friend of the Garden (FOG) volunteer Penny, serving up strawberries! Photo credit: Ben Scheufler

: FOG President Gudrun shows off beautiful handmade wreath. Photo by Diane Donaldson.

: FOGs pose with the Shop in the Garden’s 2020 Christmas tree! Photo by Sharon Hanna.

: Jenni the FOG book buyer’s expertise has been invaluable to buying fascinating books for the Shop in the Garden for many years. Photo by Gudrun Hancock.

: Jenni the FOG book buyer’s expertise has been invaluable to buying fascinating books for the Shop in the Garden for many years. Photo by Gudrun Hancock.

: FOGs in the Back 40 during the spring.

: Main organizer of the Back 40 harvests a volunteer carrot from the path.

: On a plant collecting trip to a fellow FOG’s garden.

: FOG transplants treasures from a fellow FOG’s garden.

: Back 40 FOG makes plant markers for newly acquired plants.

: Two more of the Back 40 senior members who have just finished spreading a bag of top soil. FOGs develop strong muscles!

: FOGs working to weed the Back40.

: The FOGs tend to the first 5000 pounds of apples arriving at the Garden on UBC Apple Market pick up day.

: FOGs focus on the planning for UBC Apple Market, on the porch of the Reception Centre. Photo taken by Gudrun Hancock.

: FOGs running covid-style admission for the special bulb sale. Photo taken by Louise Sirrs.

: A FOG holds up delicious organic “Music” garlic harvested at the Garden and sold at the special bulb sale in 2020. Photo taken by Gudrun Hancock.

: Thank you, FOGs! Photo by Kathy Mullen.

: A Seed Collector FOG harvests seeds in the Garden. Photo by Suzanne MacVey

: A FOG creatively completes a sale while following healthy and safety protocols. Photo by Ed Biggs.

: A FOG creatively completes a sale while following healthy and safety protocols. Photo by Ed Biggs.

: FOGs delivering sweet pea goods safely at the drive-by sale! Photo by Ed Biggs.

: FOGs ready to sell pelargoniums. Photo by Sara Jones.

: A FOG creatively completes a sale while following healthy and safety protocols. Photo by Ed Biggs.

: A FOG creatively completes a sale while following healthy and safety protocols. Photo by Ed Biggs.

: FOG harvesting lemongrass. Photo by Kathy Mullen.

: FOG shelling harvested beans. Photo by Kathy Mullen.

: A Friend of UBC Botanical Garden chooses her linens and tableware for a garden lunch. Photo by Karen Yurkovich, June 2021.

: The Friends of UBC Botanical Garden (FOGs) are preparing to provide short tours in Garden on the weekends. Photo by Gudrun Hancock.

: The Friends of UBC Botanical Garden (FOGs) are preparing to provide short tours in Garden on the weekends. Photo by Gudrun Hancock.

: With the help of Garden staff, the Friends of UBC Botanical Garden manage an ongoing project of monitoring Magnolia phenology in the Garden’s collections. Here, the Friends of the Garden make their weekly check on the magnolias in the Garden. Gudrun Hancock, 2021.

: A Friend of UBC Botanical Garden (FOG) visits another FOG’s garden to share plants and garden stories. Photo by Gudrun Hancock, 2021.

: FOG changes the drive-by sign on Southwest Drive. Photo by Kathy Mullen, 2021.

: Close-knit friends of the UBC Botanical Garden admire the trees in the David C. Lam Asian Garden during a guide training tour. Photo taken by Gudrun Hancock, 2021.

: Friends of the UBC Botanical Garden admire the trees in the David C. Lam Asian Garden during a guide training tour. Photo taken by Gudrun Hancock, 2021.

: Friends of the UBC Botanical Garden admire the trees in the David C. Lam Asian Garden during a guide training tour. Photo taken by Gudrun Hancock, 2021.

: FOG working with the new Point of Sale system at the Shop in the Garden & Garden Centre. Photo by Gudrun Hancock, 2021.

: Linda Wong with her ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) for Nitobe Memorial Garden. Photo taken by Miki, April 2021.

: A Friend of UBC Garden (FOG) cares for plants in the greenhouse. Photo by Karen Yurkovich, 2021.

: Friend of UBC Botanical Garden (FOGs) choose bulbs and aprons for their spring planting and summer garden activities. Photo by Karen Yurkovich.

: FOGs inspecting M. sprengeri ‘Eric Savill’ on the walk way. Photo by Sue Hamilton, 2021.

: FOGs from the Seedy Growers group pose with a rhododendron in the Garden earlier in the winter season. Photo by Betty K. Griffiths.

: FOGs inspecting M. sprengeri ‘Eric Savill’ on the walk way. Photo by Sue Hamilton, 2021.

: The Easter bunnies landed in the Garden and a Friend of UBC Botanical Garden chooses a bunny for an Easter nest. Photo by Karen Yurkovich.

: The FOGs’ Seed Planting group plant seeds in the UBC Botanical Gardens nursery at this time of year and in any weather, March 2021. Photo by Cathy Accera.

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: Friends of UBC Botanical Garden (FOGs) show off Galanthus and Helleborus, plants recently potted at the Back 40 at UBC Botanical Garden, 2021. Photo taken by Wendy McKee.