Kew Mutual Improvement Society

Grow your knowledge

The Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS) was founded by Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1871, with the aim of providing students of horticulture and botany with the opportunity to broaden their understanding of a wide range of subjects relating to the profession.

With time, KMIS also became an invigorating space for horticultural conversation where experts from across the field could come together to share their passion.

KMIS is run by Kew Diploma students who curate and present a varied programme of lectures. Our programme now reaches beyond students with audiences from all over the world and we welcome anyone who shares a passion for horticulture and botany to attend.

We hope you can join us!

Date and time

Mondays from September to March at 6pm

Refreshments available for a cash donation from 5.30pm

Location

Live: Lady Lisa Sainsbury Lecture Theatre, Jodrell Gate, Kew Gardens, Richmond TW9 3DS

Online: Hosted via Microsoft Teams

Prices

Tickets booked online incur a fee to KMIS. If you are attending in person, please support KMIS and pay at the door if you can.

Regular: £4

Fundraising: £10

All proceeds go to KMIS

Book tickets

2024 – 2025 lecture schedule

September

2 September: Shrouded in light: Naturalistic planting inspired by wild shrublands with Kevin Williams and Michael Guidi
23 September: Snow in Burma? Plant hunting the remote wilds of northern Kachin with Nick Macer, director of Pan Global Plants
30 September (fundraising lecture): Give me chastity – but not yet: Gardening choices in a changing climate with John Grimshaw, director of the Yorkshire Arboretum and editor-in-chief of IDS Trees and Shrubs Online

October

7 October: A wilderness of sweets with Isabel Bannerman, garden designer and author
14 October: Talk 1: Of loch and glen with Jessie Nield, Kew Diploma Student; Talk 2: Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden:
Tokyo’s urban Oasis with John Houston, Kew Diploma Student
21 October: Rewilding: Natural process restoration and why it’s so important with Gil Martin, director of estates and natural capital at Belmont Estate
28 October: Seeds Under Pressure: Coping with environmental change with Charlotte Seal, research leader in seed and stress biology, RBG Kew

November

4 November: Saving our insects with Professor Dave Goulson, professor of biology at University of Sussex
11 November: Talk 1: Palms: The supermodels of south Florida with Anja Seymour, Kew Diploma Student and
Tom Davis, RBG Kew; Talk 2: Flammable flora: Exploring the cape with Josie Lane, Kew Diploma Student and Annette Foerger,
Botanical Horticulturist
18 November: A life in five gardens with James Alexander-Sinclair, garden designer
25 November: The story of trees: Is our story, your story and my story with Kevin Hobbs, new product designer at Pinnacle
Plants International

December

2 December: Biodiversity and ancient oaks: The example of High Park, Blenheim with Aljos Farjon, honorary research associate, RBG Kew
9 December (fundraising lecture): Weaving colour into landscape with Ann-Marie Powell, garden designer, author, journalist and presenter
16 December: A history of Kew (and the world) in ten objects with Mark Nesbitt, senior research leader in economic botany, RBG Kew

January

13 January: Talk 1: Volcanoes, plants and permaculture with Louie De Witt, Kew Diploma Student; Talk 2: Saving space for desert with Aidan Pike, Kew Apprentice
20 January: Small trees, big impact: The role of garden trees in making cities liveable with Elisabeth Karlstad Larsen, postdoctoral research fellow at RHS
27 January (fundraising lecture): The biodiversity audit at Great Dixter with Fergus Garrett, CEO and head gardener at Great Dixter

February

3 February: A diet of worms: Horticultural heresies, enlightenments and indulgences with Edward Flint, gardener, consultant and lecturer
10 February: Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens: Past, present and future with Åsa Gregers-Warg, head gardener at Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens
17 February: Talk 1: Caring for Scotland’s temperate rainforests with Stephanie Li, Kew Apprentice; Talk 2: Putting the bee in Bryony with Aneel Odhwani, Apprentice and Carlos Martel, Research Fellow RBG Kew
24 February: Towards a Honduran fern flora with David Hill, Honduran fern flora team member

March

3 March: Revisiting the gardens of Japan with Hannah Gardner, horticultural consultant
10 March: Can you name a notable woman botanist? You will after this lecture! with Heather Lindon, honorary research associate, RBG Kew
17 March: Conserving the endemic palms of the Comoros Islands with Tom Pickering, Will Spoelstra and William Baker, display conservatories manager/Palm House supervisor/senior research leader, all RBG Kew
24 March: Modern cactus explorations: Challenges, benefits and adventures with Andrew Gdaniec, PhD student at University of Reading