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??????Our mission at Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票 Botanical Garden is to get people to fall in love with plants, and particularly with our incredible Cape Flora. One of the hardest challenges in doing this is the seasonal nature of wild plants. Flowers often appear only for a few weeks, and geophytes may disappear completely underground during our dry, windy summers. Botanical art doesn’t just communicate the incredible diversity and uniqueness of our local plants, it also captures key life stages in a form we can appreciate year round. It is a permanent reminder of our wild wonders. 

The best works also make us appreciate detail and form that we might never have otherwise noticed. The hundreds of hours skilled artists spend creating, highlights b?eautiful and important characters that even professional botanists might otherwise miss, or plant parts normally hidden from sight.

Left: Our annual SUBG Botanical Art & Photography exhibition is always popular. Right: Artworks include rare and threatened species not commonly illustrated, such as Oxalis fragilis?, a Critically Endangered species, here pointed out by Rupert Koopman. 

We host an annual October exhibition with botanical works from top South African artists every year, and are now developing the James & Shirley Sherwood Botanical Art Collection, the first public permanent botanical art and illustration collection at a South African institution accessible to visitors. 

There are various organisations that people can join to further their curiosity. The Botanical Artists’ Association of southern Africa (BAASA) arranges exhibitions, meetings and talks to further the field of botanical art. Volunteer-based Custodians of Rare and Endangered Species (CREW) are involved in finding, counting and reporting on vulnerable populations. ?

The annual SUBG Botanical Art & Photography Exhibition

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Chris Lochner, Protea nitida, poster of the SUBG Botanical Art & Photography exhibition 2024; Janet Snyman, Conophytum herreanthus, poster of the SUBG Botanical Art & Photography exhibition 2025.

The SUBG Botanical Art & Photography exhibition has been held annually since 2023 in the garden gallery. Artists are encouraged to build their portfolio and experience by exhibiting their work on our world-class exhibition. These focused exhibitions are very popular and all works are for sale to visitors. In 2024 we put the magnifying glass on rare and endangered plants in South Africa. In 2025 the selection was more open and you can still see your favourites in the exhibition.  We are increasingly looking at depicting novel plants that have not had a lot of exposure in botanical art.?

2025 EXHIBITION DETAILS

SATURDAY 13 September 2025 - Friday 16 January 2026 (Garden entrance fee is applicable).

VENUE: Garden Gallery (open DAILY from 8 – 5 daily Mon – Sun) 

DOWNLOAD 2025 CATALOGUE HERE

Follow this link ?for more information about upcoming and past exhibitions.

The James & Shirley Sherwood Foundation Botanical Art Collection?

Carol Reddick, Oxalis fragilis, Critically Endangered, 22 x 24cm, Watercolour, 2023. Generously donated by the artist.

Annette Faul, Oxalis oculifera, Rare, 38 x 28 cm, Watercolour and coloured pencil, 2024. Generously donated by a private donor.

Pat Bowerbank, Orothamnus zeyheri, Vulnerable, 50 x 40cm,Watercolour, 2024. Generously donated by a private donor.?

The James & Shirley Sherwood Foundation Botanical Art Collection initiated in 2025 is a collection of botanically accurate paintings and drawings of plants linked to SUBG's conservation, research and education priorities. The project will support and grow local botanical art development and local plant awareness, raising the profile of botanical art, generating awareness and interest in the purchase of investment pieces by established artists, and to support, develop and inspire young artists.

Other generous donors have already contributed works to our permanent collection, showcasing world class South African botanical art, and raising the profile of our most threatened and interesting plant accessions. We recently upgraded the permanent exhibition space which will house the permanent collection, and have a few themed displays every year that highlight new works, botanical themes, garden and botanical history or environmental themes.

?This special collaborative project is the initiative of Karen Stewart M.Phil (Botanical Illustration) and chair of the Botanical Artists' Association of southern Africa's Cape branch, Dr Don Kirkwood (PhD Botany Ecology) Late Curator of the Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票 Botanical Garden, Prof Leanne Dreyer is a key academic partner, the world expert in the megadiverse Cape Oxalis genus and creator of the SUBGs incredible 200-plus species living Oxalis collection. This collection alone is a goldmine, most species have never been illustrated and many are extremely threatened, or only now being formally described.  

Martine Robinson, Haemanthus canaliculatus (left) & Haemanthus pumilio (right). 

Both Critically Endangered, 43 x 52cm, Watercolour, 2024, Generously donated the James & Shirley Sherwood Botanical Art Collection by Jane Crowhurst and an anonymous donor.?

We are grateful for the generous donation from the James & Shirley Sherwood Foundation to upgrade the Garden Gallery space and procure important botanical paintings. Our funders understand the value of urgently preserving our precious plants for future generations. We also acknowledge the donations of our private funders who have purchased 13 paintings for the collection from 2023-2024.