STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Sawtooth Botanical Garden is asking Wood River Valley residents to match donations offered by its founders as it nears its deadline to “purchase the dirt.”

A capital campaign launched in June 2025 has raised $636,363 of the $800,000 the garden needs to purchase the five-acre property from the Enlyst Fund. The deadline for the purchase is four months away.

Board Vice Chair and Capital Campaign committee Co-Chair Juliet Romano rallied a group of founders to “seed” a matching effort to double donors’ dollars for the campaign. The Thurston Charitable Foundation and other benefactors responded by raising $86,350.

The match is good through the end of March. To contribute, visit https://www.sbgarden.org/ or call 208-726-9358.

“The Sawtooth Botanical Garden’s March Match campaign lasts through the end of this month, and we endeavor to double the seed funds with the goal of accepting an invitation to apply for a grant through a local foundation that would take us to the finish line… and possibly even beyond,” said the garden’s Executive Director Jen Smith.

Once the property is in the bag, the Sawtooth Botanical Garden will launch a phase two capital campaign to fund several projects over the next few years.

The Sawtooth Botanical Garden is a nonprofit public garden located a few miles south of Ketchum. Such a public garden is a rarity for communities this size.

The garden attracts visitors from around the world who are introduced to gardens ranging from a lava garden to an alpine garden showcasing the area’s five biomes. Its Garden of Infinite Compassion serves as the site of a prayer wheel gifted and blessed by the Dalai Lama when he visited Sun Valley in 2005.

And the garden boasts more than a dozen world-class sculptures.

The Sawtooth Botanical Garden also serves as a venue for weddings, celebration of life services and such events as the Bug Festival, which hopes to expand this year with a Fun Run and more.