Oxford University Botanic Gardens
Winter Science Lectures – January – March 2026
12th March | Plantsman & Horticultural Educationalist
The Garden Museum
Spring Plant Fair
19th April 10 00 am – 4 00pm, £5 entry
This year’s stalls will include Beth Chatto Gardens, Great Dixter Nursery, Zophian Plants, Heckfield Place Farm, Hardys Plants, Earth Tenders, Care Not Capital, Bright Green Fox and many more.
More information and tickets here
Coming soon! Seeds of Exchange: Canton and London in the 1700s
11 February – 31 May 2026
In our next exhibition opening early 2026, discover the exchange of botanical knowledge shared between Canton (now Guangzhou) and London between 1766-1773, displaying a collection of Chinese botanical art and research for the first time in Britain since it was commissioned 235 years ago.
The exhibition will explore the relationship between John Bradby Blake (1745-1773), an English botanist who worked as a supercargo for the East India Company in the 1770s, his Chinese interlocutor Whang At Tong 黃遏東, and the botanical artists Bradby Blake commissioned to document plants native to Canton.
Featuring 30 botanical paintings by the artist Mauk-Sow-U together with herbals, maps, models, a portrait of Whang At Tong 黃遏東 by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), and watercolours and drawings of Canton from the V&A, Seeds of Exchangewill tell the story of a little-known international botanical collaboration.
Ashmolean Museum
In Bloom: How plants changed our world
What do we really know about the plants and flowers in our gardens and window boxes?
Beyond their beauty, many have hidden histories – tales of exploration, obsession, and knowledge.
This major new exhibition takes visitors on a journey from Oxford to the farthest corners of the world and back, uncovering the global stories behind some of Britain’s most beloved blooms – from roses and tulips to camellias and peonies.
Featuring over 100 artworks and objects, including drawings, paintings, rare prints, and ceramics, In Bloom explores our changing relationship with the natural world.
From the fascinating stories of curiosity and ingenuity of early plant explorers to the networks that shaped global trade, this exhibition reveals how the pursuit of exotic plants transformed landscapes, economies, and cultures, leaving a legacy that still shapes our world today.
Tickets available from 19th March here
The Alpine Garden Society has a programme of events, zoom lectures, seed exchanges and regional groups
The Cottage Garden Society has a North Oxford Group
The Oxford Special Interest Group The Oxfordshire Flora Group specialising in plant identification meetings