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Turn plant records into living knowledge

The collection management platform for all botanical collections

Accessions, taxonomy, mapping, labels and public sharing in one system — trusted by 1000+ collections across 250+ botanical gardens, arboreta, herbaria and estates worldwide since 1996.

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Transparent pricing · Free 60-day trial · Full data migration service

Trusted by 1000+ botanical collections worldwide

  • Botanical Garden, University of Oslo
  • Orto Botanico Università di Padova
  • Bonn University Botanic Gardens
  • Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
  • Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
  • The Arboretum at Penn State
  • Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden
  • Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden
  • Botanic Gardens of Sydney
  • National Botanic Garden of Wales
  • Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
  • Gothenburg Botanical Garden
  • English Heritage
  • Chelsea Physic Garden
  • Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam
  • Smithsonian Gardens
  • Naples Botanical Garden
  • Fort Worth Botanic Garden
  • University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research
  • San Francisco Botanical Garden
  • Melton Botanic Garden

See all our users →

One integrated system

Everything you need for your plant records

From the first accession record to a public web map, IrisBG covers daily maintenance, curation, mapping, publishing and preservation.

  • Accessions & plant records

    Keep the full story of every accession, including determination history, origin, collectors, permits and parentage, in one record your whole team can trust.

  • Garden mapping

    Plot every plant on an interactive map, update coordinates in the field and keep your garden maps current, with no GIS specialist required.

  • Garden Explorer

    Publish your collection to the public with searchable plant lists, interactive maps and self-guided tours, straight from your own records.

  • Taxonomy & nomenclature

    Record taxa with synonyms, common names, conservation status and the full taxonomic hierarchy, so your plant names stay current and consistent.

  • Preserved material & herbaria

    Manage herbarium specimens, seed and other preserved material alongside the living collection, with propagation protocols and custom material types.

  • Observations & plant health

    Track phenology, pests and disease scouting with structured observations, so problems surface before they spread through the collection.

  • Index Seminum

    Prepare seed and plant-material catalogues and publish them online to offer material to other gardens.

  • IrisBG Lite Soon

    A companion app for phone, tablet or computer that lets you add and update records from anywhere.

Every standard module is included from day one, and pricing is transparent, with no surprises. You buy the software licence once and own it permanently; the annual fee covers IrisBG Lite, support, updates and improvements. Explore the full feature list to see how it fits your collection.

Already have a collection database?

Switching to IrisBG

Moving from another collection management system, Access, or a stack of spreadsheets? With decades of migrations behind us, we make the transition smooth and stress-free. You get a fixed cost before anything starts, and your data is cleaned along the way.

See how switching works Start free trial

  • 5–10

    Working days, typically

  • Data cleaning

    Included in the service

  • APG IV

    Taxonomy updated

IrisBG at a glance

1000+

Collections

30

Years in service

60-day

Free trial

IrisBG Community

Join an upcoming Coffee Chat

Informal video meetings with your peers and the IrisBG team.

  • From Records to Relevance: Communicating the Value of Living Collections

    Jessica Turner-Skoff, Ph.D. , Longwood Gardens

    How can gardens help people understand the power of living collections? Drawing on Longwood Gardens’ experience, this presentation follows the journey from collections data and horticultural expertise to institutional action and public engagement. Through practical examples, it explores successes, challenges, and lessons for communicating the conservation value of living collections to staff, guests, partners, and broader audiences.

    Speaker: Jessica Turner-Skoff, Ph.D., Associate Director, Science Communications, Longwood Gardens

All about Coffee Chats →

IrisBG Community

What our users say

  • “It is indispensable to our curatorial operations, and we utilize it daily to track, map, inventory, label, and photo catalog our plant collections and donor-funded garden features.”

    Mandy DiBella Curator of Living Collections · The Arboretum at Penn State, USA

  • “In the past, it would take months to catch up. This first fall with IrisBG, despite spending time getting to know the product and rolling out Garden Explorer, we also managed to work through our backlog in record time.”

    Dave Foss Plant Recorder · Norfolk Botanical Garden, USA

  • “Their technical professionalism, high class botanical understanding, and quality of customer communication and service - including staff training, have been quite exceptional.”

    Dr Rosie Plummer Director · National Botanic Garden of Wales, UK

Read more about collection management with IrisBG

Ready to see IrisBG on your collection?

Start a free 60-day trial, or book a demo and we'll walk through your collection's needs together.

Start free trial Book a demo