Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy

Welcome to the Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy

The mission of the Conservancy is to facilitate the acquisition and introduction to North America of threatened and vulnerable ornamental plants of known wild provenance as well as from cultivated sources. These plants will be maintained as a living reference collection for public educational and scientific purposes with the goal of conservation through cultivation via distribution to botanic and public gardens, botanists and researchers plus professional and amateur gardeners and horticulturists.

Momentous News from Sue Milliken and Kelly Dodson

As Founding Directors of FRBC, Sue Milliken and Kelly Dodson are thrilled to share the news that Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy is about to fulfill one huge part of its destiny. Beginning January 1, 2027 all plant sales and nursery operations managed by Far Reaches Farm will be transferred to Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy. Sue and Kelly have been working towards this goal since they founded FRBC in 2017 and thanks to a lot of hard work from the FRBC Board and staff over the last two years, it is finally going to happen.

We’ve put together Answers to FAQs and will answer a couple right here. You will still be able to buy plants as before, as we are moving the FRF shopping platform over to FRBC where it will be the same as you are used to using. There will be one big change which this transfer will allow us to do and that is as a benefit of membership, members will get early notification when new plants are added to the website.

Another question is what happens to Far Reaches Farm — did Sue and Kelly sell it to FRBC? No, Sue and Kelly are donating the business part of Far Reaches Farm to FRBC. Most nursery owners would recoup their 25 year built-from-scratch investment by selling the nursery either as a business or more likely, for the value of the land. Sue and Kelly have put preserving the ecosystems and the wetlands of the land at Far Reaches above that of personal enrichment for which they blame their shared double copies of the altruism gene.

We cannot thank our members and donors enough for helping to save and make available for study and pleasure, some of the world's most vulnerable plants. Word up is that 2027 is the ten year anniversary of FRBC coinciding with the first full year of managing all things plant related at Far Reaches — reason enough for a celebration party!

With Gratitude and Appreciation -
Sue Milliken and Kelly Dodson
Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy

FRBC Rare Open Day
The Far Reaches gate will be open to the public
on Saturday September 19, 10am-3pm

Join Kelly in the Far Reaches Collectors Garden

Now in its third year, FRBC's Collectors Garden has come into its own! Earlier this season, Founding Director Kelly Dodson gave this video tour to show us some of the highlights.

If you'd like to see the garden in its late summer glory, the final tours of the season on Friday, September 11 still have openings. Register here

At Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy, we work to protect rare and vulnerable plants by bringing them into cultivation—before they disappear.

Your membership enables us to propagate some very special plants!

In March 2026, our Collections Manager Silas Zoeller traveled to Chile on a seed-collecting expedition alongside colleagues from the University of Washington Botanic Garden and Heronswood. Thanks to generous donor support, this was our first post-Covid collecting trip—and the seeds have already arrived safely.

The Chilean seeds were sown the very same day they arrived.

This is the same care that has grown our collection to include thousands of taxa, representing extraordinary diversity of plants gathered from around the world. Each one is carefully propagated, studied, and shared to ensure it continues to exist for future generations.

This year, you have the opportunity to be part of the Chile seed-collecting story by becoming a member during this spring membership drive.

Your contributions last year made this trip possible, and now the real work begins: germination, careful cultivation, and eventually adding these plants to the living collection and sharing them with botanic gardens, researchers, and home gardeners. If you are already one of our valued members, we invite you to consider increasing your donation to support this important project. Your contribution will ensure the Chilean collection thrives in the Conservancy’s care, and that existing collections are distributed, furthering our conservation mission.

Our work is grounded in these core areas:
Acquisition – sourcing rare plants through expeditions, partnerships, and cultivation
Conservation – propagating and maintaining living collections
Distribution – sharing plants with institutions and the public
Education - in-person events at the Conservancy, webinars and lectures

This spring, our goal is to welcome 60 new members and raise $50,000 to support this work.

Will you join us?

Your membership directly supports plant conservation, research, and the growth of this living collection, with a special focus this year on seed and spores collected last month in Chile

Thank you for being part of this effort!
Sue Milliken, Kelly Dodson, Silas Zoeller & the Far Reaches Crew

P.S. We’re in this for the long haul. Your support makes it possible. Click here to Become a Member

P.P.S. If you recently renewed your membership, thank you!

Welcome to the Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy

Momentous News from Sue Milliken and Kelly Dodson

FRBC Rare Open Day The Far Reaches gate will be open to the public on Saturday September 19, 10am-3pm

Join Kelly in the Far Reaches Collectors Garden

At Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy, we work to protect rare and vulnerable plants by bringing them into cultivation—before they disappear.

FRBC Rare Open Day
The Far Reaches gate will be open to the public
on Saturday September 19, 10am-3pm