Ultimate Winery Tyrrell’s has been a partner of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney for nine years thanks in part to a strong historic alignment. In 1858, English immigrant Edward Tyrrell established Tyrrell’s in the Hunter Valley and many of the vines he planted were from cuttings propagated from the “Busby Collection” which arrived in Australia in 1832 with James Busby who brought with him a number of vines sourced from Spain and France.

This year, Tyrrell's will highlight the importance of plants in our everyday lives with the launch of the No Plants No Wine co-branded wine packs. The three No Plants No Wine collections have been specially curated and proceeds from the purchase of each No Plants No Wine case will provide much needed funds to support the Vital Science work of the Gardens.

This season's fires have devastated Australia, including the beautiful Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah, which lost one quarter of its living collection. Living collections ensure the survival of vulnerable plants when their natural habitat is threatened, as an additional insurance policy against extinction. Seeds and vegetative material nurtured within living collections are used for restoration projects, research, education and horticulture. The fires at this iconic Garden also destroyed most of the 186 hectares of the surrounding Wilderness Area which was habitat to many of Australia’s unique flora and fauna.
 
At the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, the Australian PlantBank currently houses over 100 million seeds, including 61% of NSW’s threatened species. The impact of the bushfires across Australia highlights the urgent need to upscale efforts to collect the full suite of approximately 25,000 species of plants in Australia, helping ensure they are available for future regeneration projects and as an insurance policy for our plant biodiversity.  Seed banking, when combined with other programs to recover species and ecosystems, is our best hope to protect our plants and our future.