Memorial and Tribute Gifts

Celebrate a special occasion or create a permanent memorial for a family member, friend, or colleague at Cornell Plantations. By choosing Plantations to carry your tribute, you are also supporting our mission to preserve diverse horticultural collections and natural areas, and to offer programs that increase knowledge of and appreciation for the interdependence of people and the natural world.

A Living Tribute

For a gift of $5,000, Plantations will designate and name one of the trees in the arboretum in accordance with your wishes. A special tag is placed on the tree with language that you provide. Plantations will care for the tree in perpetuity; if it needs to be replaced or replanted in the future, your tribute will be carried forward.

All tribute trees are located in the 150-acre F.R. Newman Arboretum. At Plantations, 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. Specialties at Plantations include oaks, maples, conifers, crabapples, and urban trees.

A Permanent Place to Remember

Memorial or tribute benches are made of teak or stone, and are placed at strategic sites selected by our horticulture staff in the botanical garden or arboretum. Donors provide the wording for the bronze plaque that is installed on the bench. Plantations will maintain the bench in perpetuity, ensuring that it will always be in place for future generations to enjoy. The minimum gift for a tribute bench is $25,000.

Tributes or memorials can be searched on this website using the Find a Plant or Memorial feature.

For more information about establishing a memorial or tribute at Cornell Plantations, please contact Elizabeth Anderson or call 607-254-4727.