Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
A Scottish scientific institution, conservation organisation, living plant collection and public garden founded in Edinburgh in 1670.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a Scottish scientific and horticultural institution whose work combines plant research, biodiversity conservation, education, living collections and public engagement. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden for cultivating medicinal plants, it is the second-oldest botanic garden in the United Kingdom after Oxford. Its principal site occupies approximately 70 acres at Inverleith, about a mile from central Edinburgh, while the institution also operates three regional gardens: Benmore on the west coast, Dawyck in the Scottish Borders and Logan in Dumfries and Galloway. RBGE is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. Its public-facing identity is closely associated with the Edinburgh garden, often known locally as “the Botanics,” but its institutional scope is much broader. The organisation maintains a major global living collection, a world-leading herbarium, a specialist botanical library, scientific laboratories, education programmes and conservation projects in Scotland and overseas. The living collection comprises more than 13,300 plant species represented by tens of thousands of accessions and hundreds of thousands of individual plants. The herbarium contains more than three million preserved specimens, documenting plant diversity and botanical exploration across many regions of the world. The garden’s scientific priorities include Scottish biodiversity, plants and climate change, and conservation. RBGE contributes to both ex situ conservation—protecting plants in cultivation or in collections—and in situ work carried out in natural habitats. Its research encompasses plant taxonomy, systematics, ecology, fungi, lichens, horticulture and the effects of environmental change. The institution also supports training and formal education across several levels, while making its collections available to researchers, students and the public. The Edinburgh site is a major visitor attraction as well as a research centre. Its displays include alpine plants, a rock garden, a Chinese hillside, woodland and heath gardens, tropical and temperate glasshouses, palms, orchids, cycads, ferns, carnivorous plants and plants illustrating relationships between people and the natural world. Entry to the outdoor garden is generally free, while the glasshouses and some activities may require admission. Events include guided tours, exhibitions, performances and family-oriented programmes. Inverleith House, an eighteenth-century building within the garden, has hosted contemporary art and collection-based exhibitions. RBGE’s heritage is reflected in its historic buildings, plant introductions, scientific publications, collections and former keepers. The organisation has repeatedly relocated and expanded in response to space, pollution, flooding and the needs of research. In the present day it is also modernising access to its collections through digitisation. High-resolution records of herbarium specimens are being placed online, extending the institution’s usefulness to researchers and plant enthusiasts around the world. Overall, RBGE operates as both a public cultural attraction and an international centre for understanding and protecting plant diversity.
History
RBGE began in 1670 when physicians Robert Sibbald and Andrew Balfour established a physic garden near Holyrood Palace to grow medicinal plants and support medical learning. After the private collection of Sir Patrick Murray, Lord Elibank, was transferred to the garden in 1672, the collection expanded. The first site was soon too small, and in 1676 the garden moved to land associated with Trinity Hospital. Flooding after the draining of the Nor Loch in 1689 damaged the collection, contributing to a further move to Holyrood in 1695. In 1763 the collections were transferred away from the polluted city centre to a larger site beside Leith Walk under John Hope. The garden became an important centre for botanical exchange and experimentation. Among its historical achievements was the successful cultivation of Turkish rhubarb from seed brought by Bruce of Kinnaird; more than 3,000 plants were subsequently grown, helping replace an expensive medicinal import. Hope also installed a monument to Carl Linnaeus in 1778. The Leith Walk site eventually became inadequate, and during the early 1820s the garden moved west to its present Inverleith location. The Inverleith garden developed substantially during the nineteenth century. Scotland’s tallest Temperate Palm House was built in 1858. Inverleith House, acquired by the city in 1877, was incorporated into the grounds, which were opened to the public in a remodelled form in 1881. The garden continued to serve as a centre for teaching, taxonomy, horticulture and the exchange of plants with other botanical institutions. The herbarium grew through the merger of collections associated with the University of Edinburgh and the Botanical Society of Edinburgh in 1839–1840. Further institutional and personal collections were added over time, including important material associated with George Walker Arnott and collections from universities and individual botanists. A purpose-built herbarium opened at the Edinburgh site in 1964. RBGE expanded beyond Edinburgh through a network of regional gardens. Benmore became the first regional garden in 1929, followed by Logan in 1969 and Dawyck in 1978. Their different climates allow the institution to cultivate plants that are difficult to grow at Inverleith: Benmore is suited to moisture-loving trees and shrubs, Dawyck to hardy plants of cooler and drier regions, and Logan to plants from warmer southern-hemisphere environments. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, RBGE increasingly defined itself through global plant science and conservation as well as horticulture and tourism. The John Hope Gateway opened in 2010 as an education and visitor facility. The organisation now coordinates conservation projects, maintains extensive living and preserved collections, delivers education and operates public programmes. Its ongoing digitisation initiative is opening millions of herbarium specimens to remote users and supporting contemporary research into biodiversity, lichens, climate change and conservation.
- 2021
Millionth herbarium specimen digitised
[1]The millionth digitised specimen was a lichen collected from Ben Nevis, highlighting the institution’s online-access programme.
- 2010
John Hope Gateway opened
[1]A new visitor and education facility opened at the Edinburgh garden.
- 1978
Dawyck joins the regional network
[1]Dawyck Botanic Garden became part of the RBGE regional-garden system.
- 1969
Logan joins the regional network
[1]Logan Botanic Garden became the second regional garden associated with RBGE.
- 1964
Purpose-built herbarium opened
[1]RBGE’s herbarium moved into a dedicated facility at the Edinburgh site.
- 1929
Benmore joins as first regional garden
[1]Benmore became the first regional garden within the RBGE network.
- 1881
Inverleith grounds opened to the public
[1]After the acquisition and remodelling of Inverleith House and surrounding grounds, the modern public garden was opened.
- 1858
Temperate Palm House built
[1]The Temperate Palm House was constructed at the Inverleith garden and remains Scotland’s tallest palm house.
- 1839
Herbarium collections consolidated
[1]Collections connected with the University of Edinburgh and the Botanical Society of Edinburgh were brought together.
- 1763
Move to Leith Walk site
[1]The garden moved to a larger five-acre site away from the pollution of the central city.
Products and positioning
A heritage botanical institution positioned at the intersection of scientific research, plant conservation, horticulture, education and public culture.
Public botanical garden
Edinburgh Botanic Garden
The principal RBGE site and institutional headquarters covers approximately 70 acres at Inverleith. It combines landscaped displays, specialist collections, glasshouses, historic buildings, education facilities, scientific work and public events. Major areas include alpine, woodland, Chinese, rock, heath, tropical, temperate and arid plant displays.
Regional botanic garden · 1929
Benmore Botanic Garden
Located on Scotland’s wetter and milder west coast, Benmore specialises in plants suited to high rainfall and includes important conifer and rhododendron collections, a sequoia avenue and a fernery.
Regional botanic garden · 1978
Dawyck Botanic Garden
Situated south of Peebles, Dawyck is known for hardy plants from cooler and drier parts of the world and for its diversity of fungi and other cryptogams.
Regional botanic garden · 1969
Logan Botanic Garden
Logan’s relatively subtropical climate enables RBGE to cultivate unusual plants from the Southern Hemisphere and other warm regions that would not reliably thrive at Edinburgh.
Scientific collection · 1839
RBGE Herbarium
The herbarium contains more than three million preserved plant specimens and is a major reference resource for taxonomy, biodiversity research and conservation. A continuing digitisation programme is creating high-resolution online records.
Research and reference service
RBGE Library
Scotland’s national specialist botanical and horticultural reference collection, with approximately 70,000 books and 150,000 periodicals supporting research, teaching and public enquiry.
Brand decisions
2021
Scale up herbarium digitisationStrategyBackground
More than three million preserved specimens are valuable to researchers but historically difficult to consult remotely.
Action taken
RBGE began creating high-resolution digital records and publishing them for online access.
Aftermath
The programme expanded global access to the collection and reached its millionth digitised specimen in 2021.
2010
Open the John Hope GatewayOtherBackground
RBGE required a contemporary facility to improve interpretation, visitor services and public education at the Edinburgh garden.
Action taken
The John Hope Gateway was opened as a visitor and education centre.
Aftermath
The facility became part of RBGE’s public-engagement infrastructure.
Recent events
- 2023
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Medal awarded to Sandra Díaz[1]
Other
The RBGE Medal recognised Sandra Díaz for an outstanding contribution related to the work of the institution.
- 2022
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Medal awarded to Jin Chen[1]
Other
Jin Chen received the RBGE Medal for an outstanding contribution in a field connected with the garden’s work.
- 2021
RBGE advances digitisation of its herbarium collection[1]
Other
The institution marked the digitisation of its millionth herbarium specimen, a lichen collected from Ben Nevis, as part of a programme making its extensive preserved collection accessible online.
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