Among the horticultural venues celebrating 2010 as the United Nation’s International Year of Biodiversity is the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, just outside London, England. From May 29 through September 5, 2010, Kew is inviting visitors to not only explore the gardens in full bloom, but to also delve into the hidden world of plant pollination and discover how plants work together with animals and insects to sustain life.

Kew notes that plant life is under threat, with 60,000 to 100,000 plant species at risk of extinction today. In 2009 alone, Kew’s botanists discovered and described over 250 new species. Kew’s global conservation work is also vital in highlighting the current threats to the world’s plant life and helping to protect species at risk in the future.

Under its Adopt a Seed, Save a Species program, Kew has successfully banked 10% of the world’s wild plant species, and aims to bank 25% by 2020. Road Trips Gardeners can sign up to sponsor an entire species (£1,000 or £2,000), or just a seed (£25)