Celebrate a special occasion or create a permanent tribute for a family member, friend, or colleague. Your tribute gift supports our mission to inspire people—through cultivation, conservation and education—to understand, appreciate, and nurture plants and the cultures they sustain.
Tribute Tree: A Living Honor
Cornell Botanic Gardens will designate and name one of the trees in the F. R. Newman Arboretum in accordance with your wishes. A special tag is placed on the tree with the commemorative language that you provide. We collect, plant, and nurture trees with a purpose. Our goal is to create as diverse a collection as possible, featuring a wide range of both native and cultivated varieties of trees and shrubs that are hardy in New York State. Special collections include oaks, maples, conifers, crabapples, and urban trees.
The minimum gift for a tribute tree is $5,000, for a 25-year tribute designation. If the tree is damaged, fails, or must be removed for any reason within 25 years, another tree will be designated in as close to the original location as possible. At the end of the original term, we will contact the donor or next-of-kin to discuss options for renewing the tribute.
Pergola Planters
Our pergola planters are located at the entrance to the Herb Garden at the Nevin Welcome Center. These prominently displayed planters line the iconic pergola that serves as a soothing corridor through the shade garden and dramatic entrance to the Herb Garden. Enhancing one of our most photographed areas, these planters are filled each growing season with a changing display of annuals and tropical plants that add color, texture, and biocultural diversity to our living collections. Each 8 ft x 2ft x 2ft planter is made of a rot-resistant, reclaimed redwood by an organization that is committed to restoration forestry.
Planters are a 25-year designation, so if it is damaged or needs to be removed for any reason within 25 years, another planter will be designated in as close to the original location as possible.
How We Use Tribute Gifts
A portion of each tribute gift is used to pay the expenses associated with establishing the new designation.
Search Tribute Benches and Plaques
Search and locate your loved ones’ tribute bench or plaque using the off-site portal Garden Explorer, which draws the information directly from our records (capability to search tribute trees coming soon!).
Contact Us
For more information about establishing a memorial or tribute at Cornell Botanic Gardens, please contact Susan Doney at 607-254-6511.