Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy

Events

Seamus O’Brien Memorial Lecture Series Winter 2026

Our newly named webinar series honors a remarkable individual and dear friend who in December passed suddenly at age 55. Seamus curated the plant collection at the National Botanic Garden Kilmacurragh in Ireland and was a peerless garden and botanical historian. Seamus kicked off our inaugural webinar series in 2021 with his presentation “In the Footsteps of Joseph Dalton Hooker and Augustine Henry” and subsequently did two more for us which are archived and available for viewing on our website. A great supporter of the work being done at Far Reaches, when asked for anything he would reply “Kelly and Sue, whatever I can do to help”. He had cheerfully agreed to be our first presenter this year, speaking on the great plant hunter Frank Kingdon-Ward, of whom he was writing a biography. It seemed proper to keep him close at hand through these webinars.

In the footsteps of Frank Kingdon-Ward — A Chinese Adventure with Seamus O’Brien
Friday, February 13 at 10am PST
John Anderson

Keeper of the Crown Estate Gardens, Windsor Great Park, England Responsible for a number of important Historic Garden Landscapes in Windsor Great Park (Savill, Valley, Frogmore Gardens) plus several other Royal Gardens. Within these gardens, he oversees 10 National Collections, 390 Champion Trees of Britain and Ireland, approximately 19,500 taxa embodying over 32,000 plant accessions. A member or trustee of most of the relevant societies and groups and recipient of numerous prestigious awards.

John has traveled extensively around the globe exploring for plants and was a close friend and travel companion of Seamus O'Brien. We are honored to have him launch our Seamus O'Brien Memorial Webinar Series recounting traveling in China with Seamus retracing the footsteps of the great English plant hunter of the last century, Frank Kingdon-Ward.

Good Woody Plants that Deserve Greater Attention
Saturday, February 28 at 10am PST
Jack Aldridge, currently head of the esteemed Alpine and Rock department at RHS Wisley and formerly caretaker of the garden's historic heart, Oakwood, is one of the preeminent young horticulturists of the United Kingdom. In addition to his role at Wisley he is currently helping to catalog and care for the collections of the great plant collector Maurice Foster at White House Farm and Arboretum as well as contributing to the International Dendrology Society's publication Trees and Shrubs Online including detailing crucial ornamental genera such as Cornus. These experiences and his own independent study have already made him one of the foremost experts on woody plants and well qualified to enlighten both us and you as to plants that are worth looking into for the future. Anyone who knows Jack is quick to tell you of his immense brilliance and infectious passion for plants, and we are very excited to have his already bright star become even more apparent on this side of the pond.

This webinar will feature a richly illustrated talk, offering a plantsman’s pick of some very garden-worthy but often neglected shrubs, trees and climbers. It will cover both some long-forgotten old favourites and up-and-coming new introductions to horticulture, many of them seldom seen but all fully deserving of a place in our gardens.

The RSBG 2025 Botanical Foray Among Japan's Incomparable Wild Plants
Friday, March 13 at 5pm PDT
Steve Hootman is Executive Director of Horticulture and Curator of the world's premier collection of Rhododendron species at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, Federal Way, WA. Steve is one of the leading authorities on the genus Rhododendron and is the recipient of every top award related to Rhododendrons. He is responsible for introducing numerous new species to cultivation, especially through his many expeditions in Asia. Kelly and Sue have been fortunate to have traveled with Steve on seven of these expeditions beginning in 2003 and can attest that he is cut from the same intrepid cloth as the great plant hunters of yore.

Steve will speak on the RSBG's recent trip to the mountains of Japan, searching for not only Rhododendrons, but a tantalizing array of trees, shrubs and herbaceous gems.

Suggested donation is $12 per event, all are welcome.

Upcoming Local In-Person Event

Behind the Gates: Introduction to Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy
Wednesday, March 4, 2026, 6:30-8pm PST
Silas Zoeller gives his perspective on the significance of the FRBC collection and reviews his first two years as Collections Manager at the Conservancy.
Community Room at Jefferson Community Foundation
2409 Jefferson St Suite B, Port Townsend, WA 98368

Space is limited. While there is no fee to attend, registration signup is required for this free event.

Webinar Archive

Click HERE to view some of the webinars that FRBC has presented over the years.

July 2025 Trip to Northeast India

This summer Sue and Kelly were joined by our Collections Manager Silas Zoeller to visit a remote portion of the Himalaya in Arunachal Pradesh near Tibet and Bhutan. They botanized at 14000' looking at a myriad of plants such as Primula, Sausserea, Gentiana, and 8 species of Meconopsis (Blue Poppy), 7 of which were in flower. The purpose of the trip was two-fold: to assess the environmental changes since Kelly and Sue last were there in 2003; and to provide crucial field training for Silas. As part of our networking, relationship building, and educational commitment, we invited two younger botanists involved with botanic gardens in Scotland, and the inimitable Argentine alpine plant botanist, Marcela Ferreyra, who also joined the tour. Besides recording many of the plants they found at their iNaturalist Journal, Silas has written a report serialized in the FRBC Newsletter:

Adventure in Arunachal (part 1)

Adventure in Arunachal (part 2)

Adventure in Arunachal (part 3 )

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