Britain’s hottest garden unites with Google A&C

By Press Release Jul 25, 2021

Ventnor Botanic Gardens (VBG) have partnered with Google Arts & Culture to help people discover and be inspired by green spaces around the UK.

Gardens United, a new interactive on-line exhibition, is the result of collaboration with VBG and more than 30 other partners, including archives, museums, botanic gardens and heritage bodies. It gives the opportunity to learn from experts and community gardeners about topics ranging from health and wellbeing, food growing, urban gardening and much more.

Gardens United gives everyone the opportunity to explore, learn and discover gardens through a new lens – including “Britain’s Hottest Garden” here in Ventnor. In over 150 curated on-line exhibitions, Gardens United presents an enormous archive. Learn about how gardens have always held a special place in our lives, how important they are for our health and wellbeing, what gardening can do to help support the planet and look back through botanical history from Darwin’s garden to Royal landscapes.
VBG is, on average over the year, five degrees hotter than mainland Britain, meaning that it is uniquely situated to grow, study, and research plants that cannot be grown outdoors elsewhere in the country, and consequently is home to many rare and exotic plants.

John Curtis, VBG director, said: “We are very grateful to Google Arts & Culture for helping us bring our garden and our ethos to a wider audience. We hope together we can raise awareness of climate change through our plant collection.”

Amit Sood, of Google Arts & Culture, said: “Through this programme we wanted to inspire
audiences to seek out new gardening experiences. From botanical art to urban gardening, thanks to our incredible partners, Gardens United has something for everyone – even if you are only looking to plan your next staycation itinerary!”

You can explore Gardens United on the Google Arts & Culture app on iOS or Android or online at g.co/GardensUnited.